On the Run
by dozygirl
Summary: What if Wormtail was just a bit braver? Or perhaps just a little more scared of Sirius Black. AU during PoA. Wormtail kidnaps Harry and goes on the run, leaving Sirius to follow and try to rescue his godson.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR. I'm just making his life miserable for my own entertainment**.

Chapter 1.

Thirteen-year-old Harry Potter lay in his bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, staring at the ceiling. It had been a long couple of days, he mused, but now he really needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow Gryffindor would be playing Ravenclaw at Quidditch and after their disastrous first game against Hufflepuff they needed to do well if they were going to win the cup. He _had_ to catch the snitch tomorrow, but to do that he _had to get to sleep_. He turned over, punching the pillow angrily. Damn Oliver, anyway. He was the reason Harry wasn't sleeping. He was putting so much pressure on him to win this game that it was a wonder Harry hadn't exploded.

It was all the Dementors fault, he thought irritably. Because of them he had fallen off his broom, his beloved Nimbus 2000, which had flown right into the Whomping Willow and been smashed to pieces. He sighed. At least he had the Firebolt now. McGonagall had given it back to him the evening before, probably hoping he would use it to bring Gryffindor to victory. Why did everyone act as though he were the only one playing? There were six other people on the team, weren't there? Harry was glad to have the broomstick back. If nothing else it flew like a dream, but it was frustrating to wonder who had sent it to him. Hermione had clearly been wrong, it couldn't have been from Sirius Black, the man who had betrayed his parents to Voldemort, but she had gotten him worried about who _had _sent it, which was probably what she wanted.

Why couldn't he just sleep? He wasn't worried about Dementors anymore, Professor Lupin had taught him how to cast a Patronus Charm. Even though his wasn't as strong as it could be, he was doing well. He hoped that if the Dementors did decide to show up tomorrow he could at least avoid falling off his broom.

He could hear Ron's loud snores echoing around the dormitory and that wasn't helping him any. He sat up tiredly. Ron and Hermione were fighting again. When weren't they? But it was different this time. He doubted they could make up this time. Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, had most likely eaten Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. The evidence was overwhelming. Unfortunately Hermione was stressed from overwork and Ron still hadn't really forgiven her for telling McGonagall about the Firebolt at Christmas so neither were willing to back down and make friends right now.

Harry threw himself back onto the bed. Then there was Crookshanks himself. Harry found the cat to be slightly obsessive in the way he chased after Scabbers, to the exclusion of all the other pet rats that could be found amongst the students or even the mice that were surely to be found in a castle this size with a lake and forest nearby. He had seen Crookshanks outside earlier, when he and Ron had been returning from Quidditch practise and the cat had given him a fright by staring at him out of the bushes. For a moment he thought it had been the large black dog he had seen around several times now. He grinned despite himself. If Trelawney knew how jumpy he was getting over the dog she would be ecstatic, thinking he was finally taking his impending death seriously if he was truly concerned about the grim.

That was it. His mind was just starting to get silly now. He was going to sleep. He was really nervous about tomorrow's game now. Why couldn't he _sleep_?

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Peter Pettigrew shifted anxiously. If the boy didn't go to sleep soon this would all become a lot harder. He nibbled on an old sock that had slipped under the bed as he waited for the boy on it to drift off.

All his pieces were in place, he thought happily. The day before he had faked his own death rather cleverly by biting a paw and allowing it to bleed on the Weasley boy's sheets. He'd found a couple of stray ginger cat hairs in the common room when the kids had been in class and placed them by the bloodstains. It had worked perfectly. The boy had found the evidence and immediately turned on the mudblood for allowing her cat to eat his beloved rat.

It had almost all gone wrong when the girl had suggested he look under all the beds just to make sure. After faking his death he had immediately hidden under Harry's bed, awaiting the right time. He had wanted to do this the night before, but wanted to wait until the day of the Quidditch match. This way he'd have longer to get away afterwards. No one would realise anything was wrong until it came time for the game to start.

The boy shifted restlessly once more. Would he never sleep? He had taken a good look around the night before, noting where the boy kept his wand and cloak. He would probably have to take a few of the boy's clothes as well. They would probably fit him, he wasn't a tall man after all and the boy had a tendency to wear clothes that were rather large. He would need to stop by the kitchens, too. The elves never asked questions and who would ever think to go and ask the house elves if they'd seen anything suspicious. He would need food for the journey, it wasn't like he could stop off and but anything. He was supposed to be dead after all.

He would have smiled evilly if a rat was capable of such a thing. The journey. Or more specifically, the destination. The Master would be so pleased with him and his cleverness, he would surely be rewarded. It had been a stroke of luck that he had been in the staff room when Remus and McGonagall had been discussing the latest news. Imagine his surprise upon hearing that the Dark Lord was currently hiding in Albania. He contented himself for a few minutes by imagining just how grateful his Master would be and what kind of rewards he would be gifted with. He would be the Master's right-hand man, with women at his beck and call and power- yes he would have power beyond imagining, second only to the Dark Lord himself.

It was the news of the Master's whereabouts that had prompted him to make this drastic move, obviously. It had nothing to do with Sirius' attempts at getting in the tower on Halloween, or the fact that he had seen the grim-like dog running around the grounds with the half-kneazle cat only two nights ago. He shuddered at the thought. No. It had nothing to do with that at all.

He paused. The boy hadn't moved in at least five minutes. Could he finally be asleep? He waited breathlessly for a time before deciding to chance it. He silently moved from under the bed, leaving the chewed sock almost regretfully. Sometimes he thought too much like a rat. He had to focus on the rewards he was soon to receive, not on chewable garments. Next thing you knew, his mouth would be watering at the sight of mouldy cheese. Stupid rat instincts.

Once he had reached an open space he stretched. And stretched and stretched, until he was no longer a rat, but a human. It was the first time he had been human in so long! He moved is shoulders, trying to get the feel for his old body back. It felt foreign after over twelve years as a rat. Wrong, somehow. He caught sight of a mirror and was startled to see how much he'd changed in that time. His hair was grey now and falling out in clumps, his once chubby body was thin and gaunt. He attributed much of that to Sirius' breakout. The thought of his ex-friend filled him with dread and left him with little appetite. He knew the boy that had been talking care of him had been worried about his weight loss and dreading his dying despite the amount of times he had complained about how useless Scabbers was. Stupid boy. Clearly he didn't appreciate greatness. What else could a rat do except eat and sleep? It had been a wonderful life and had granted him this opportunity, though. The boy had doted on him and had ended up in the same dormitory as Harry Potter, so he wasn't entirely worthless.

There. The wand was on the bedside table. Wormtail reached out and took it. It was the first time he'd held a wand in twelve years and it felt _good_. He needed to use it. Now. He pointed at each bed in turn and whispered, "_silencio_," in a cracked voice that was no longer used to human sounds. He went first to the boy's trunk. There were a few things he needed. He rifled through and began pulling them out at random. Clothes and other things were strewn across the floor. With a chilly smile he shrank most of them and began piling them into the pockets of the tattered robe he was wearing.

There that was everything he needed. Except for one more thing. With a single motion he reached out and pulled back the curtains on the bed. Glee turned to shock on his face.

The figure lying there was small, even for a thirteen tear old, but that wasn't what alarmed Peter. Tired green eyes were blinking up at him in surprise. Damn, the boy hadn't been asleep after all. Thankfully this had been the first bed he'd charmed or he would have been accosted by the famous Harry Potter already.

He faltered for a moment as the boy sat up. What was he going to do now?

"Who are you?" a suddenly alert voice asked. One hand was reaching for his glasses and the other for his wand.

His wand! Of course. Peter had the advantage here. The boy didn't have a wand, but he did. "_Stupefy_!" he said quickly, his usurped wand pointed at his victim. The boy fell back onto the bed, his glasses clutched in one hand.

Peter silently berated himself for being an idiot. No, he wasn't an idiot. He was a brilliant example of wizard kind! He'd just forgotten for a moment that he had all the cards here. He wasn't used to being able to just point a wand at a problem. Not any more, but he would be. Next time he would remember that he was a wizard first and a rat second.

He hesitated for just a moment before yanking the glasses from the boy's hand and dropping them on the floor. Without them the boy would have yet another disadvantage he could use against him. With a flourish he picked up the invisibility cloak from the floor and draped it over the boy. Alone, he could hide quickly if anyone was wandering the castle, but not with a floating Harry Potter beside him. He levitated the boy and began to walk from the room before he spotted something that gave him pause. The Firebolt. He could take it with him, surely and make a much faster getaway. The thought made him shudder. He wasn't a good flyer at all. He'd take his chances on the ground. Although…

He removed the broom from the rack and kicked it under Harry's bed. If someone saw it there tomorrow morning they would instantly think he hadn't just left early for the game.

With one last look around the otherwise still dormitory, Peter Pettigrew left, a boy floating behind him, hidden from sight and his pockets half filled with stolen booty.

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Ron awoke the next morning to a very quiet room. It seemed that his roommates had already left for breakfast. Fine. He didn't care. He could use a lie-in. He relished that Saturday morning feeling and luxuriated in his bed until a thought struck him. Quidditch! He had to get up and eat before the match. Harry was playing today after all.

The moment he opened his curtains the sound seemed to come back. He could hear Neville snoring lightly from his bed and the sounds of birds singing outside. Weird that. He quickly got up and dressed, stopping by Harry's bed just to make sure that he wasn't sleeping in. Nope, he was already gone and so was his Firebolt. Good. He had an excellent feeling about this match. Harry would be flying the best broom out there. He had to win.

He hurried down to the Great Hall where Hermione was seated at the Gryffindor table eating toast and poring over a huge book. He dropped into a seat opposite her and began to pile his plate high with anything he could reach. "Where's Harry?" he asked between bites.

Hermione frowned at him in disapproval. Possibly because he had just sprayed her book with bits of his breakfast. "Honestly, Ron. Swallow first, then talk."

Ron swallowed forcibly. "Fine. Where's Harry?"

"I haven't seen him," Hermione said, distractedly turning back to her book and wiping the food off it. "You know Harry, he gets nervous before a match. He's probably gone somewhere to calm down." She looked at him, as though just registering that he were there. "I though you weren't talking to me."

Ron's ears reddened in embarrassment. How could he have forgotten that? "Oh yeah," he said and picked up his plate, moving over to where Dean was sitting with Seamus. "Hey mates, looking forward to the game?"

He could see Hermione glaring at him furiously, but ignored her as he got into an exciting conversation about Gryffindor's prospects against Ravenclaw. They were going to win, he could feel it. Harry would catch the snitch and they'd have an awesome party to celebrate.

When they made their way down to the pitch Harry still hadn't appeared. Ron wasn't concerned though. He was probably in the changing rooms by now, listening to Oliver Wood, a pretty amazing keeper, giving his pep talk. Oliver was leaving this year, he remembered thoughtfully. Maybe he would have a shot next year. Then he and Harry could play together. They could practise over the summer, Harry would have to spend a lot of time at the Burrow, but that was the plan anyway. The longer he was away from those nasty relatives of his, the better.

Shouldn't the game be starting now? He could see the Ravenclaw team walking about at their end of the pitch, waiting for their opponents to arrive, but where was Gryffindor? Absently, he noted that the Ravenclaw seeker was quite pretty, in a stuck up kind of way.

He glanced at his watch. The game was ten minutes late starting. Where were they? If they didn't show up soon they'd have to forfeit. He looked around to see many of his housemates looking as nervous as he felt. Quidditch was _never_ late. Especially with the manic Oliver playing. There was a man with his priorities straight and Ron thoroughly approved. But where was he now? Hermione was chewing her lip on the far side of the stands, she was wringing her hands and looking really worked up. Ron sighed to himself. If she'd just apologise for her cat eating Scabbers he'd forgive her, but she wouldn't even admit it was a possibility. Now wasn't the time though. The Gryffindors were being delayed by something and if there was trouble it usually involved Harry in some way. He was their best friend and if something was wrong with him he didn't want it made worse by arguing with his_ other_ best friend.

Having made up his mind he went to her and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's see if he's alright."

Hermione looked startled, but took his hand with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ron."

The two of them headed down the stairs, but barely made it to the pitch before McGonagall's voice echoed around them. "EVEYONE PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GREAT HALL. QUIDDITCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a startled look and hurried to where the transfiguration professor was standing. She looked at them steadily for a moment and Ron was startled to see the worry on her face. "Yes," she said after a moment. "You two may follow me."

She turned abruptly towards the school and led them to her office. She gestured for them to take seats, which they did with some trepidation.

"Professor," Hermione said at last. "Is this about Harry?"

McGonagall took a deep breath before nodding. "I'm afraid so. Have either of you seen him this morning?"

"He was already gone when I got up this morning," Ron said quickly.

"I haven't seen him either, Professor," Hemione concurred. "Is he missing?"

"Yes," McGonagall said simply. "He never showed up to the Quidditch match and no one seems to have seen him. The ghosts and teachers are going to search the castle. If you can think of anywhere he might have gone…"

Ron shook his head and heard Hermione agree. Harry wouldn't have gone anywhere without telling them first,he was sure of that.

They were both dismissed moments later, but neither could face the Great Hall right now. Ron tugged Hermione by the hand towards Gryffindor tower, gave the Fat Lady the password and went on up to Ron's room.

Hermione flung herself on Harry's bed and began to sob. "I'm sorry, Ron. I'm sorry Crookshanks ate Scabbers, I'm sorry I've been a horrible friend."

Ron ignored her and went to Harry's trunk. The Marauder's Map would show them where Harry was and they could sort this whole thing out in no time. He flung it open and gasped. "Hermione, come look at this."

Hermione crawled over to him, tears streaming down her face and looked into Harry's messy trunk. "What is it?"

"Someone's been through Harry's trunk. A load of his stuff is missing, clothes his invisibility cloak, all his books are here though."

"Are you saying Harry ran away?" Hermione asked tearfully. "He wouldn't do that."

"No. He's never this messy, someone else has been here," Ron said, throwing things everywhere. "Ah hah!"

He straightened out the map and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Lines spread out and formed the now familiar map.

"Where is he?" Hermione asked at once, leaning over to see better.

Ron searched desperately. "He's not on here," he said at last, throwing it aside angrily. "He's not in the castle."

Hermione burst into a fresh set of tears, her face buried in her hands. Ron supposed he should comfort her, but wasn't sure how. Harry was always better at that than he was. The thought of Harry made his stomach clench. Where could he be? What had happened to him?

Something caught his eye from under the bed. He moved over to it and pulled it out. It was the Firebolt! "Hermione, his broom. He hasn't taken it!"

"So?"

"So! If Harry went somewhere he would have taken his broom! This is proof that he's been kidnapped!"

"It's not proof, Ron. It might point that way, but it proves nothing."

"Fine then," Ron snapped, his anger coming back. "What about my bed? When I woke up this morning I couldn't hear anything until I opened the curtains and ten the sound came back. Someone used a silencing charm!"

Hermione wiped her eyes and nodded. "Harry's silencing charms aren't that good, someone else must have done that."

Ron reached over and pulled her to her feet once more. "We'll tell McGonagall what we know. It might help." He stepped back and was surprised by the crunching noise that met his ears. He glanced down in confusion. What he saw made his insides tense up. He felt like he could be sick. "I think we have proof now," he said at last.

Hermione met his gaze and followed it down to see what he had stepped on. What she saw made her eyes well up all over again. There, broken beyond repair, were Harry's glasses.

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A/N: Well, what did you think? Those of you waiting for the next chapter of New Life, it will probably be up before next weekend. I had a bit of writer's block and this has been nagging at me for a while, but now I'm halfway through chapter 21, so it shouldn't be much longer.

Please review and let me know what you think.

Dozy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR. I'm just making his life miserable for my own** **entertainment.**

Chapter 2.

Harry awoke slowly, feeling stiff and uncomfortable. Had he fallen off his bed in the night? It sure felt as if he were on the floor. And his right arm was twisted at an awkward angel behind his back as he lay curled on his left side.

Suddenly, an image of a man flashed into his mind and Harry was wide-awake and sitting up, staring around himself fearfully. Everything was a little blurry because he didn't have his glasses, but he could still make out most of what was around him. He was on the floor of a room that looked like some kind of wild beast had been let loose in it. Broken furniture was littered here and there and most of the walls looked as though something had scratched at it. The curtains and what upholstery he could see was slashed and torn and a film of dust lay over everything. Whatever had got loose in here was long gone. Harry himself was sitting at the foot of a dusty, tired looking bed. He looked down at his wrist and wasn't really surprised to see that he was handcuffed to the narrow bedpost. He was really in trouble now.

Where was his kidnapper? He tried to remember what he looked like from the brief glance he'd had the night before. He hadn't seemed very tall and his hair looked like it was falling out. He'd also had the look of a slightly podgy man who had lost a lot of weight very quickly.

Harry knelt, pulling on the cuffs as quietly as possible so he could see onto the bed. There was no one there. So why had he been thrown on the floor when there was a perfectly good bed going unused? A slight movement made him look closer. The bed wasn't empty after all. Harry gaped at the sight of Scabbers, Ron's pet rat, sleeping in the exact centre of the bed.

"Scabbers?" he whispered in disbelief. "Ron will be so glad to see you. But first I have to get out of here, wherever here is."

He examined the handcuffs more closely. His hands were pretty small. If he tried really hard he might be able to squeeze out of it. He had to be quiet though. Who knew when his kidnapper would come back.

As he worked he let his mind drift. Who had kidnapped him and why? Was he an accomplice of Sirius Black? Or the man himself using Polyjuice Potion? No it couldn't be that. If he were going to use Polyjuice he would surely have used hair from someone who belonged in the school, not a random stranger. Could it be someone working for Voldemort? The very idea made him shudder.

First things first, Harry needed to get out of here and get back to the school. He couldn't be all that far away if Scabbers had made it here in just a couple of days. The thought gave him pause. Why _was_ Scabbers here? Probably scared of Crookshanks, though that didn't really explain the blood on the sheets. Harry shook his head and returned to the task at hand. Yeah, the rat had faked his own death to escape the cat. Next thing you know he'd be thinking Black was innocent of betraying his mum and dad. Or that Voldemort really just wanted to be friends.

Aha! Success. His hand slipped through the cuff so suddenly that he fell backwards, causing the dust to fly up in the air. He almost sneezed but managed to stop himself just in time. He didn't want to alert anyone that may be waiting in the next room. He wished he had his wand, but knew that was impossible, he'd just have to make do with what he had.

Standing slowly and stretching to relieve the kinks in his back he moved to the bed. "Come on Scabbers," he whispered. "Let's go home." He gingerly picked up the rat and started for the door, moving as silently as he could. He opened the door cautiously, half expecting to hear someone yell out, but nothing happened. Relieved he stepped through into a long dark tunnel.

No guard then? That was a stroke of luck. Unless, of course, someone was waiting at the end of the tunnel. He'd go carefully and hope whoever it was had thought he'd been sufficiently restrained.

He walked for about five minutes when Scabbers woke up in his hands. The rat immediately began to wriggle to get free. "Stop it, Scabbers," Harry murmured. "You'll get me caught." But Scabbers paid him no attention and continued to writhe in his grip.

Harry dropped his small burden when it bit him sharply on a finger. It was all Harry could do not to yell out. What was wrong with Scabbers? He was usually so complacent.

Harry's eyes widened as Scabbers seemed to grow in front of his eyes until he was face to face with the man who had removed him from Hogwarts the night before. Harry gasped. He was an animagus! And Harry's own wand was pointed between his eyes.

Harry's gaze flitted about. The man was standing between him and the exit, leaving the only way out towards the room he had awoken in. Even if he felt inclined to run that way this man had his wand and could easily stun him.

"Walk," the man's voice was rasping, as if he weren't accustomed to using it. He jabbed the wand up the tunnel, indicating where he wanted Harry to go. Bowing his head in defeat, Harry turned and walked slowly back the way he came. Was that really Scabbers? He should have left the rat there.

When they reached the room Harry was shoved towards the bed and told to sit. Harry nervously did as he was told, all the while hoping for an escape. He didn't know if anyone could find them here, but he had a really strong desire for someone he knew to burst through the door to rescue him. Professor Dumbledore or Lupin would be great, but he'd settle for anyone really. Even Ron and Hermione. He was sure that between them they could take out this man.

As Harry was thinking the small man, who was barely taller than Harry himself had re-handcuffed him to the post. He muttered a charm and Harry felt the cuff on his wrist shrink until it was painfully tight. He stifled his cry of pain, not wanting to give his kidnapper the satisfaction.

"Who are you?" he asked defiantly. "What do you want?"

The man replied by grabbing Harry's chin and forcing his head around so they were staring into one another's eyes.

"I've been watching you for almost three years, but this is the first time I have looked upon you with human eyes," he grunted. "It's uncanny, how much you look like James."

Harry's eyes flew wide open. "You knew my dad?"

"Oh, of course," the man said, enjoying the discomfort he was inflicting on the boy before him. "We were dear friends. Your mother, too, was very fond of me. Your eyes come from her, you know."

"I don't believe you," Harry said forcibly. How could his parents be friends with someone who would abduct him from school? There was no way. But then a nasty little voice reminded him that Black had been his father's _best friend_. Maybe his dad had really bad taste in friends or something. Except for Professor Lupin.

"Believe what you want, little boy, it won't change a thing."

Harry bristled, but didn't say anything. He tried to shift his wrist so he was a bit more comfortable in the cuff, but to no avail. "What do you want with me?"

"I'm returning to my Master," the man sneered. "I needed a suitable gift and you're it."

"Voldemort," Harry said.

The man flinched violently, but recovered quickly. He backhanded Harry across the face. Harry felt his lip split and this time he couldn't stop himself from crying out.

The man smirked at him. "Do not speak my Master's name, insolent brat, or next time it will be much worse."

Harry glared at him, refusing to be cowed, even though he was currently chained to the bed. "Are you working with Sirius Black?"

"Black? No," the man laughed. "He and I parted ways long ago. I'm sorry to say we are no longer friends."

"But you both work for Vol… You-Know-Who."

The man didn't answer, but he did look very smug at that.

"Who are you?"

The man seemed to hesitate before answering. "My name is Wormtail."

The Marauder's Map! This was Wormtail? Then who were the other three?

"Can I have my glasses?" he asked hesitantly.

"No."

Harry hadn't thought so, but it was worth asking. Wormtail didn't seem to mind him asking questions so he might as well learn as much as he could. If someone rescued him they would want to know certain things.

"How did you get me out of Hogwarts? Teachers are always patrolling the corridors and there are ghosts and things."

"I know all the secret passages," Wormtail boasted. "Far more than Dumbledore even. I was already in your dormitory, have been for years and you had all the tools I needed to get you out of there easily. I outsmarted the great Albus Dumbledore!"

Wormtail seemed to think rather a lot of himself. Harry could work with that. "That was really very clever. How did you manage to pose as Scabbers for all these years? It must have been really difficult."

Wormtail almost preened at the praise. "Yes, difficult. I worked long and hard to conquer the animagus transformation. Only the most brilliant wizards are capable of it, you know. Then I had to insinuate myself into a pure blood family. I knew the Weasley's had children about the right age and they are always Gryffindors, as I knew you would be. It was an uncomplicated life. Then you and the boy became friends when you began school and I knew I had made the right choice."

"Why didn't you do something during first year?" Harry asked, trying to hide his distaste at the thought of this man sleeping in his dormitory for the last three years. He had slept in Ron's _bed_.

"It was the wrong time," Wormtail said dismissively. "I did not know where my Master was and it would have been imprudent to have you along while I searched."

"You, you know where he is?"

"I would hardly have made such a daring move if I didn't would I?" Wormtail wheezed. "Now be silent. We need to wait until nightfall before leaving and we might as well get some sleep in the meantime." With that he pushed Harry on to the floor and pointed his wand at him. "Since I can't trust you to not try and escape, _dormus._"

Harry instantly felt tiredness sweep over him and his eyes closed. He was soon fast asleep.

Wormtail looked upon the sleeping boy. Yes, he really was very clever to think of such a spell. He would have to use it whenever he needed to sleep or the whelp would be trying to get away at every opportunity. He put the wand back in his tattered robe pocket and transformed back into a rat. Moments later, he too was sound asleep.

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The large black dog was sitting beneath the Gryffindor stands, waiting for the match to start. The sounds above were almost deafening to his exceptionally good ears. Children could be so loud.

It was late though and the dog was starting to become concerned when a voice boomed out over the pitch.

"EVEYONE PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GREAT HALL. QUIDDITCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

Cancelled? Quidditch was _never_ cancelled. Something big was going on and he was determined to find out what. He could see two pairs of legs running towards the teacher who had made the announcement and decided that they might be the best people to follow if he was going to find out what was going on. He'd seen these two a lot and knew who they were friends with.

He ran beneath the stands to a spot directly behind the group and crawled on his belly to get as close as he could. While what he heard wasn't very encouraging it didn't really provide any information and he couldn't very well follow them into the school. He'd have to wait until he could learn more. He just hoped the traitor hadn't done anything drastic.

Sirius Black would rip Peter Pettigrew apart with his very large canine teeth if he hurt so much as one hair on Harry's head.

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When Harry awoke that evening he opened his eyes to stare directly at the end of his own wand once more. He noticed that Wormtail was wearing the other end of the handcuffs that still bit painfully into Harry's wrist. It was by this very handy tool that Wormtail yanked Harry up to his feet.

Harry swayed slightly. The shock of going from sleeping to awake and standing had thrown him off balance, but Wormtail was already pulling him towards the tunnel. Harry tried to ask him a question, but no sound escaped his mouth. Harry guessed he'd been silenced.

The tunnel narrowed at the end and then they had to climb up out of a hole. Harry found it difficult with Wormtail constantly trying to drag him upwards, but managed it eventually and as his invisibility cloak was thrown over him he was surprised to see that they were on Hogwarts grounds.

The castle loomed above them and Harry wished he could remove the silencing charm. If he were able to yell someone might hear and come save him.

Wormtail was already pulling him along at a fast pace and they had soon by passed Hagrid's hut and were out the school gates on the path to Hogsmeade.

He stopped just on the outskirts of the village and threw off the cloak. Harry suddenly realised that Wormtail was wearing his, or rather Dudley's, clothes. They were a little long on him and fit him only slightly better than they did Harry. He removed one of Dudley's old caps from a pocket and shoved it on Harry's head, jamming it down far enough to hide his scar. With a tap of Harry's wand the handcuffs fell off.

Wormtail hissed. "I will call the Knight Bus and we will get on. You will do nothing to draw attention to yourself or I will kill you instantly. You are worth almost as much to my Master dead as you are alive. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded vehemently. Wormtail put on a similar cap and flung his wand out. In his other hand was a familiar moneybag. Great! He was funding his own kidnapping.

With a loud bang and a lot of smoke the triple-decker Knight Bus appeared in front of them.

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A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed. I've decided I'm not going to respond to individual reviews unless they raise a really good point, but I do want you to know how grateful I am for them .Thanks!

Dozy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: As I am not JK Rowling I can sadly say I do not in any way own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 3.

"I'd like a room for the night," Wormtail said to the clerk. "For me and my son." He indicated Harry, whose face was mostly obscured by the oversized cap he still wore. His arm was about Harry's shoulders in what would probably look like an affectionate gesture. But in reality was to remind Harry not to do anything stupid. Harry could see his wand in Wormtail's hand, half hidden by a baggy sleeve and heard him mutter something that sounded a great deal like '_Imperial._'

Harry grimaced at the man's touch. Wormtail had stayed annoyingly close to him the entire time they were on the Knight Bus and had kept a firm grip on him as they disembarked so Harry couldn't make a run for it. He'd kept hoping that someone would recognise him. The usually frustrating cries of, "Look, it's Harry Potter," would have been welcome for once, especially if it had provided a good enough distraction to at least attempt an escape, or if that hadn't worked it wouldn't have taken long for word to get back to Dumbledore about where he'd been.

Harry looked up into the eyes of the muggle clerk, a young man with blonde hair who was giving Wormtail a simpering smile as he did whatever it was he was doing. Harry tried to put a pleading look in his eyes. This man could call the muggle police and… what? Wormtail would hex them and run off again. No, Harry's only help would come from wizards. Besides, the clerk had a glassy eyed look to him, Harry doubted he'd be much help.

"Here you are, sir," the clerk said, handing Wormtail a key. "Room 214. Have a good night."

Wormtail nodded tersely and Harry was dragged to the lifts. He was getting really tired of being pulled about.

It was only a few minutes later that they entered the hotel room and Harry was shoved unceremoniously onto one of the two beds. Wormtail spent some time using charms to lock the door, leaving Harry to wonder how he intended to pay for this. Harry's moneybag only had galleons in it, nothing that could be used in the muggle world.

Harry's eyes roved about the room. The door wasn't going to work, unless he could steal his wand back from Wormtail. He recognised most of the spells being used and knew that one of them sounded an alarm if the door was approached. That left the window. It was large and Harry doubted he would have any difficulty climbing through, but he didn't know how high up they were. Without a broom he could break half of the bones in his body. It was worth a try though. Maybe there was a drainpipe he could climb down or something. He could wait until Wormtail was asleep and creep out that way. He could be home by breakfast tomorrow!

Unfortunately Wormtail had other plans. Having secured the door, he turned back to the young boy sitting nervously on the bed. He whispered a spell Harry did not hear, but he recognised the effects instantly as his eyes began to feel heavy.

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The big, black dog that was Sirius Black watched the Hogsmeade street with interest. The people were literally buzzing with whatever news was in the paper today. Sirius knew that whatever it was, it was big and he had to find out what it was. He was hoping that someone would throw out their copy so he could steal it from a bin as he had countless times before.

What little he'd overheard was worrisome. He'd heard his own name muttered angrily in the same sentence as Harry's was said with concern, but even with his dog hearing was unable to find out just what it was he was supposed to have done this time. Add to that the fact that Peter was missing and Sirius was a very worried man.

Ok. That was it. What little patience Sirius had was long gone and it was now time to act. His eyes found a tall man whose newspaper was held out before him and they narrowed dangerously. His haunches shifted as he got into the prime pouncing position and… he struck.

His back legs uncoiled and propelled him upwards as his jaws snapped closed around the paper. The man yelped and let it go, backing up quickly, as though expecting the dog to turn on him now.

Sirius couldn't help himself. He barked happily, allowing the paper to fall to the ground. With his paws he rolled it into a neater shape and picked it up in his teeth. He wagged his tail at the bewildered man and ran back to his hiding place, leaving the man to stare after him, wondering at his behaviour.

It only took the dog a few minutes to get back to the cave he was staying in at the moment. In order to not leave a trail he was changing his hiding place every week or so. There were plenty of caves in this part of the countryside so it hadn't been too difficult. Once he was safely inside he transformed back into a tall, skinny man with dark dishevelled hair that was matted and hung past his shoulders. His blue eyes desperately fell to the front page of the newspaper he had dropped before him.

**Boy-Who-Lived Kidnapped.**

_The staff and students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were devastated yesterday, when Harry Potter (13), also known as the Boy-Who-Lived went missing._

_His disappearance was first noted when he failed to turn up to the Quidditch match in which he would have been playing as Gryffindor's seeker. The match was cancelled and the students relocated as teachers searched the castle and grounds to no avail._

_Close friends of Harry's, Ron Weasley (also 13) and Hermione Granger (14) were the ones to find Harry's glasses in his dormitory and also discovered that silencing charms had been placed on all the beds, including Harry's, leading investigators to the conclusion that our boy hero was taken against his will._

_As we all know, Sirius Black, murderer of twelve muggles and one wizard, escaped from Azkaban in July and has recently been sighted near Hogwarts itself. Has he kidnapped Harry, hoping to use him in some dark ritual to resurrect his master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?_

_Our hearts go out to Harry's friends and family and we pray that he is alright and will be returned to us soon._

Sirius cursed and threw the paper aside. He was going to kill that rat! How dare he so much as _touch_ Harry? He spent a long minute pacing, trying to decide the best course of action. It couldn't have been anyone but Wormtail, though it showed an unusual amount of courage from his ex-friend. The question was, what to do now.

"Not much point hanging about here," he said to himself. "Where would Peter go?"

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The hour was late. Albus Dumbledore sat tiredly behind his desk, watching those gathered in his office from behind half moon spectacles.

Remus Lupin sat staring into space, looking as though he'd just lost his best friend. In a way, Albus supposed, he had. Harry's physical resemblance to James Potter was startling to say the least and Remus had taken to him quickly. Harry was a stark reminder of his long-dead friend, one that was effecting Remus profoundly now it was gone. That it had been Sirius Black, his other best friend from long ago, who had likely stolen the boy only made the blow that much harder to bear.

Molly and Arthur Weasley sat nearby. Arthur was pale from tiredness and distress, but he continued to comfort his distraught wife. Molly was sniffling gently, long past the point of tears and now anger bubbled beneath the surface. He would almost pity Black if she came across him right now. Her eyes were red rimmed and hollow looking. She had most likely spent the entire time since yesterday, when Harry's disappearance was first discovered, crying. Albus couldn't blame her. He felt like sobbing himself.

Minerva McGonagall sat primly in her seat, her face, as always, a mask of strict control. Only the sad flicker in her eyes gave away just how upset she was over recent events. Not only had one of her Gryffindors been taken, but this one in particular, one whom, she had confided to Albus, she felt a strange urge to mother every time she saw him. The rest of the students in her house were anxious for news of their seeker and friend and she bore the brunt of their questions. Exhaustion and worry exuded from the usually strict professor.

Severus Snape burst into the room without knocking. He threw an irritated glance at Albus before seating himself as far away from Remus and the Weasleys as was possible.

"Now that we are all here," Albus began. "Let us discuss our next course of action."

Molly wiped her nose and nodded. "We need to find Harry as quickly as possible."

"If he is not already dead," Snape said disdainfully.

Molly gasped in horror. Her eyes turned a pleading look at Albus, begging him to tell her it wasn't true.

"Severus, that was unnecessary," Albus said firmly. "Molly, I have every reason to believe that Harry is still alive. If his kidnapper wanted him dead he would have killed him in his bed, not gone to all the trouble of spiriting him from the school." He saw Molly sigh in relief and felt awful for being the one to remind her of the gravity of the situation. "However, it is likely that he is being taken to Voldemort," he paused for Molly's small squeak of surprise and terror. "For what reasons we cannot yet know."

"Is the _Prophet_ right?" Arthur asked, shuddering slightly at the forbidden name. "Could Harry be used in some ritual to bring back You-Know-Who?"

Albus lowered his eyes sadly. "It is a possibility. Or maybe he is to be held for a ransom. There are many who would pay for Harry's safe return. The Ministry, too, will pay a great deal to ensure Harry's safety, Cornelius especially. The public look upon Harry as their saviour and he knows that if anything happened to Harry because he refused, his term would be over in moments."

"Has a ransom note been received?" Minerva asked, glancing at Remus who had yet to show he was paying any attention to the conversation.

"Not as yet, but it is still early days," Albus replied.

"I think you are giving Black entirely too much credit if you expect him to be acting rationally," Severus sneered. "He probably took the boy somewhere to torture him for a while before he kills him. The man is insane, need I remind you. We cannot predict what he will do." Severus seemed a little smug about it and Albus frowned at his apparent lack of concern for a young boy's life.

Albus saw Remus stiffen. The first movement he had made in almost an hour. Minerva had a disapproving look on her face that made Albus grateful that he wasn't Severus, but it was Molly he should have been watching for.

"YOU VILE, DISPICABLE EXCUSE OF A MAN! How can you be so happy that poor Harry is _suffering _as we speak? He's the sweetest, gentlest boy I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and you sit there and smirk because he could possibly have… have…." Molly trailed off, her eyes going glassy. She sank back into her seat at Arthur's side and laid her head on his shoulder, seeking comfort. Arthur held her gently, his own expression mirroring her despair.

Minerva cleared her throat. "How did he get into the castle, Albus? We've blocked off all the secret passages and have had almost constant patrols. It's not possible to just stroll in here and take someone out without anyone finding out until the next day."

"Alas, I do not know," Albus said slowly, his eyes now focused entirely on Remus, who was wringing his hands in his lap. He was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, not that he had noticed. Curious. What could be causing such a reaction? "Harry has an invisibility cloak, a fact that Black could possibly be aware of as Harry inherited it from his father, who was Black's friend in school. He may have used that to remove Harry from the school. Though that does not explain how he got in."

"I think I can explain that," Remus whispered. His voice was so low that Albus almost missed it. His eyes came up and met Albus' desperately. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before this, but I was ashamed. I didn't want you to know how I abused your trust. But now Harry has paid the price for my silence and I can't…"

"I knew it," Severus said greasily. "The werewolf has been helping his old friend all along. I told you he could not be trusted." The dour Potions Master looked almost gleeful.

"Remus, you didn't?" Minerva sounded shocked. Albus wasn't sure how he himself felt about this yet, but moved to intercept Molly before she killed his DADA Professor with her bare hands.

"Please, everyone, remain calm until we have the full story. Remus, tell me everything."

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Ron and Hermione sat in a quiet corner of the common room. No one disturbed them, for which they were both grateful. Ron hadn't spoken to anyone but Hermione and McGonagall since the day before. Hermione knew he was blaming himself at least partially for not realising his best friend was being kidnapped while he slept in the next bed. Hermione had tried to reason with him, but her attempts had been fruitless. She suspected that only Harry would be able to talk him round.

She was crying again. She couldn't seem to stop. Every time she heard or even thought Harry's name the tears would start. It didn't help that Harry was the subject of every conversation at the moment.

Her eyes came to rest on the pile of books before her. She couldn't concentrate enough to do homework right now and to be honest she didn't care.

She fingered the chain around her neck. Yesterday, when they'd found out that Harry had gone missing she'd been sorely tempted to use _it_ to stop it from ever happening. Only the realisation that she didn't know enough about what happened stopped her. Besides, _it _only had a range of six hours and as the idea had only occurred to her at sometime after eleven am the furthest back she could have gone would have been about five. By that time it was starting to get light and the teachers were starting to move around, not to mention portraits waking up everywhere. No, she was sure it had happened long before then. The kidnapper would have chosen a time when less people were around.

It was frustrating though, to wonder incessantly about how it had been accomplished. How could he have gotten into the school without being detected?

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Albus was impressed despite himself. "You mean to say that Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew all became animagi? What a remarkable achievement."

"You didn't know?" Minerva questioned with wide eyes.

"My dear Minerva, it is impossible for any one man, even me, to know everything that happens in this school." Albus pointedly ignored Severus' snort and spoke instead to Remus. "Although I am disappointed that you did not tell me this sooner," he said, noting how Remus flinched at his words. "I understand why you did not. This information could have prevented Black from entering the castle and taking Harry had we known it." He sighed lightly, not wanting the young Professor to feel any worse than he already did. "However, it may well help us to locate him now. Thank you for telling me."

Remus nodded sadly. Albus detected a faint flicker of guilt behind his eyes and a grief so powerful it made him slightly dizzy. "When you catch Black, can I talk to him?" Remus asked quietly.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" Severus asked lightly.

Remus closed his eyes, as if to shut out the words. "I want to understand why he did it. He was our friend and Harry's godfather. He doted on Harry. I have so much trouble believing he would betray us like that. I just want to understand."

"I have no difficulty in believing it," Snape said with a shake of his head. "He proved he was dangerous many years ago as far as I am concerned."

"I promise you nothing," Albus cut in. "But I will try."

Remus nodded gratefully and went back to studying the floor.

"This isn't getting Harry found any more quickly," Molly pointed out.

"Very well," Albus said, standing gracefully. "Minerva, if you would, please reassure the students that everything is being done to retrieve young Harry." Minerva nodded and left the room. Albus wasn't sure, but he thought he detected a single tear coursing its way down her cheek. "Severus, speak to your associates. They may have heard something. Arthur, you and I will go to the Ministry. We need to speak to Cornelius about this latest information. Molly, get some rest. Harry will need you once he has been found."

They began to stand and go about their tasks when a voice asked meekly. "How can I help?"

"Remus," Albus said gently. "The full moon is only a couple of days away. You are in no condition to go hunting about the countryside. Severus has made your potion. Take this time to prepare yourself for a long discussion I feel it is high time you had with Harry. You are a link to the parents he has never known and I believe he would be grateful to hear about them from you. I will also leave it to you to explain the story of how three students here became illegal animagi." Remus winced, but agreed.

Moments later the office was empty except for the red and gold phoenix that had been watching the proceedings with great interest.

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Harry awoke suddenly and sat up on the bed. He hated that spell. It made him feel as though he hadn't really slept at all and left him feeling irritable. His gaze went straight to the next bed, where a rat was curled up in the blankets. It would be easy to kill him when he was like this, Harry realised, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it. Sure, he'd contemplated killing Black when he got his hands on him, but Black had betrayed his parents and assigned them to death. Wormtail may have kidnapped him, but Harry didn't feel the sort of rage for Wormtail that he felt for Black. Harry wasn't really all that sure that he could do it anyway.

Wormtail hadn't bothered with the handcuffs, depending on the spell instead to keep Harry incapacitated, which made everything that much simpler. He needed to use the bathroom, but didn't want to risk his captor waking up. He moved hesitantly to the window, climbing easily onto the desk that sat before it.

He looked back to Wormtail to check that he was still sleeping before easing the window open and letting out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding as no alarms sounded.

He poked his head out and was relieved to see he was only one story up. He'd fallen that far before, like the time he'd accidentally gotten himself on the roof of his primary school when Dudley and his gang had been chasing him. Piers had run to tell a teacher on him and Harry, wanting to avoid being locked into his cupboard by the Dursleys, had run to the other side of the building, lowered himself down and allowed himself to fall onto the playground. He'd been absolutely terrified as he tried to mingle amongst the other kids, but he had been out of luck. A teacher had seen him and thought he'd been climbing to show off. She had written a note to his Aunt Petunia and… her reaction had been fairly predictable.

Looking back he thought it was most likely the same accidental magic that had got him on the roof in the first place that had allowed him to get down so easily. So if he could use magic then, why couldn't he now? True, he had no wand. Wormtail had transformed it with him back in that shack they had been in, as he did all those extra clothes he always carried around so there was no point even looking for it. Maybe there was a way to harness accidental magic. If there was, Harry had never heard anything about how to do it, but it was worth a try.

Harry took a deep breath and climbed through the window. He dropped his legs over the ledge and pushed himself forward until he was hanging on by his fingertips. He tried to picture himself floating gently towards the ground and landing safely as his arms shook from the pressure of holding up his weight. Closing his eyes tightly and focusing even harder on that image, he let go.

He landed with a thud on the soft grass at the back of the hotel and rolled. Ok, so that hadn't worked. Gingerly, Harry climbed to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his left ankle. It wasn't broken, but Harry was fairly sure he'd sprained it badly. Nothing else seemed to hurt though, so he began to lope towards the gates, limping slightly as he went, but ignoring the pain.

Once he was through the gates a thought struck him. Exactly where was he going to go? He knew he was in London, somewhere, but that was a big place. The Weasley's lived far away, in Devon and Hogwarts was up in Scotland. Neither one looked a likely prospect. He might be able to find the Leaky Cauldron, but he had no idea what part of the city it was in. The only time he'd approached it from muggle London had been before first year and his mind had been too full of excitement at finding out he was a wizard to be able to pay attention to where they were going. So where did that leave?

Away from here, was the answer that came to mind, as Harry started moving again in a random direction. It didn't matter where he went as long as it was far from Wormtail. With any luck someone magical would recognise him- he was famous after all- and he would get directions to the Leaky Cauldron.

It was wishful thinking, but it was all he had.

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A/N: There you go, chapter three. Hope you all enjoyed it. Please don't forget to review.

Dozy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter then I'd be able to afford my own car, a new laptop and an expensive holiday somewhere really hot. As I currently have none of those things and I'm stuck here in rainy old England I think we can safely assume I'm not JKR.**

Chapter 4

Harry Potter was missing and it was all his fault, Ron Weasley thought morosely. If he'd only been more alert he would have surely noticed a silencing charm going up and then he could have… could have… well he could have done _something_.

It was too late now. Harry was gone, most likely taken by Sirius Black and all he was doing was sitting here feeling sorry for himself. If things were reversed and Ron had been taken Harry wouldn't just be sitting around. He'd have been out there looking with the others. Of course, Harry wouldn't have let Ron be taken in the first place.

Hermione kept trying to tell him that obviously Harry couldn't have or he would have saved himself, but she was wrong. Harry was always quick to defend others, but slow to help himself. Harry would have saved Ron.

He'd been missing for over a day now. It had been either late Friday night or early Saturday morning he'd been taken although no one had noticed until he'd failed to show up for the game. Even then they'd just thought him missing until they'd found his glasses lying beside his bed, then they'd started calling it a kidnapping.

That evening a special edition of the _Daily Prophet_ had announced the news to the wizarding nation and everyone had gone on high alert looking for the missing teen, at least that's what Ron had been told. He and Hermione were being kept well out of it, as if it weren't their best friend out there, alone with a psycho, possibly hurt and being tortured and being taken who only knew where.

Now it was Sunday morning and Ron had to wonder what Harry was going through. Not only that, but how had Black gotten into Gryffindor tower this time? Neville wasn't allowed to write the passwords down anymore. His eyes narrowed as he looked around at his housemates. Had one of them betrayed Harry?

Thinking of that incident made Ron falter. Black had come at him, Ron, with a knife, before realising he wasn't Harry. He hadn't been looking to kidnap anyone then, just kill, so when did he change his plans? For that matter why hadn't he just killed Ron anyway then moved onto the next bed? He remembered Hermione pointing out that same thing after the first attack, but he hadn't given it much thought until now. He surely couldn't have been scared off by Ron's yells, could he?

Ron shook his head to free himself of these perplexing thoughts. Black was a nutter, everyone knew that, but he'd better not hurt Harry. If he did he'd have Ron Weasley to answer to.

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Sirius Black had made it to London. It was a long journey, involving stealing one of Hogwarts school brooms, flying as far as Manchester before it gave out and then hitching a ride the rest of the way. It had made for an uncomfortable trip, especially as the rain never let up and his cloak was far from a serviceable condition. He felt vulnerable travelling as a human and kept expecting the muggle lorry driver to recognise him, especially when the news came over the muggle wireless and his name was mentioned. The driver had just grunted and commented at 'what a piece of work that Black was.' Sirius had heartily agreed, but kept his face averted as much as possible. It hadn't been made much better when the dog that was the drivers travelling companion kept sniffing him as if curious why he smelt like a canine.

But that was all behind him now. He had made it in one piece and without being recognised and now he was going to find Harry. Peter was never the most original of people, in fact his predictability had been a running joke back in the days of the Marauders and that was why Sirius was certain he had brought Harry here.

Unfortunately London is a big city and there were any number of places a rat could hide with an undersized teenage boy. But this was Peter and if anyone could predict his actions it was Sirius Black. He'd checked all of the very nicest hotels first, Peter always liked to pamper himself when he could afford it and Sirius was willing to bet he'd use dark magic to 'pay' for it.

It wasn't until the sun was up and morning light was streaming between the houses that he caught it. Peter's scent, once so familiar and welcome, was here and mingled with it was Harry's scent. He'd only smelt it that once when Harry had left his Aunt and Uncle's house, but it had stuck with him and now he was glad it had.

Sirius was considering his options when he heard a thump from behind the hotel and a low moan of pain. He was just about to go and check it out when a limping form ran by. Harry.

Sirius found himself inordinately proud of the boy. He'd escaped from Peter, clever boy. He must have inherited his ingenuity from Lily. Or maybe he was giving Peter too much credit. He'd never been all that skilled with a wand after all.

Deciding it didn't matter either way Sirius followed at a discrete distance. He didn't want to scare his godson, but there was no way he was going to let him wander the streets of London alone. Hopefully Harry would head to the Leaky Cauldron and floo back to Hogwarts. Once inside the pub he would be safe, Sirius was sure. Tom would look after him and contact Dumbledore and Harry would be home before lunchtime. Sirius hadn't been needed after all.

Well maybe a little. It quickly became clear that Harry had no idea where he was going. He'd stopped running now and merely hobbled about aimlessly. Sirius wondered what he'd done to his leg – and was that a bruise on his cheek? A growl escaped his throat. Once he was sure Harry was safe he'd go back and _kill_ Peter.

"Excuse me," Harry said to a passing woman. "I'm looking for, er, well a pub. It's called the Leaky Cauldron."

The woman shook her dark hair from her face. "I've never heard of it, luvvie. Do you know what road it's on?"

Harry shook his head negatively.

"Sorry," the woman walked away.

Harry let out a frustrated huff and looked about.

Sirius decided it was time to take action. The longer Harry wandered about the more time Peter would have to find him before he could reach safety.

Slowly he crawled towards Harry, trying to make himself as small as possible so as not to startle his young godson. He raised his head and licked Harry's hand, eliciting a yelp of surprise.

Harry looked down to see the large dog crouched beside him and did something very unexpected. He screamed.

"Argh!"

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Peter awoke warm and contented. He really enjoyed hotel rooms. Too bad he had James' brat of a son with him or he would take advantage of this reprieve from rat life and really spoil himself, all at the expense of the hotel staff, naturally.

He transformed, relishing the feel of the sunlight streaming across his bed and sat up. He would have to obliviate the staff to be safe. The Aurors would be out in force looking for the boy and he wouldn't want word to get back to Dumbledore that he stayed here for free by using the Imperious curse against the clerk in the lobby.

Time to go. He stood up, pulling out the boys' wand from the pocket of the oversized jeans he was wearing. Honestly, were all the boys' clothes whale sized? He would transfigure them, but he couldn't guarantee they'd be wearable afterwards. Transfiguration had never been his best subject.

He was gone! The boy had gotten up and left! How? The door was still charmed. His frantic gaze swept the room, finally catching on the open window. He'd forgotten the window. They were only on the second floor, the boy could have easily jumped that height.

As he stared at the window he could feel all his dreams crumbling away. The Master would punish him if he turned up empty handed after he'd been so close to delivering Harry Potter. All the power, the concubines, the respect, it was all slipping away before he'd even gotten a taste of it. Damn that boy!

No. It wouldn't end like that. He was the great and amazing Peter Pettigrew, wizard, animagus and all around genius. He _deserved_ to be rewarded by his Master when he brought the boy in. How hard could it be? The boy would be lost and unarmed in muggle London, probably heading for the one place he knew, Diagon Alley. Peter knew he could find him before he reached there and then everything would be alright again.

He spared a moment to wonder if he would return to his relatives' house somewhere in Surrey, but disregarded that. It was further away and he would be on foot. Not only that, but no muggle house could protect him from the great Wormtail, he must surely be bright enough to recognise that.

Diagon Alley it was then, but first he needed to obliviate some people.

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He'd run until he couldn't go any further and then he'd been forced to stop outside a small café. The smells wafting out the front door made him hungry, and he realised with a jolt that he hadn't eaten since the night he'd been taken from Hogwarts. That was about thirty six hours ago. Unfortunately he didn't have any money with him and no time to stop and eat even if he had. He had to keep moving. He never thought he'd be thankful to the Dursley's for making him work while on 'starvation diets,' but at least that experience would help him today.

He asked a pretty young woman – at least he thought she was pretty, but without his glasses who could tell? – dressed in fashionable clothes for directions. She'd called him 'luvvie' which made him uncomfortable, but she seemed harmless enough. She had never heard of the pub though and Harry didn't know what street it was on so she'd left him standing on the pavement, hoping for some amazing piece of luck to come his way.

Instead his hand got slobbered on by some stray dog. As he wiped his hand on his somewhat manky jeans he glanced down and got the fright of his life.

"Argh!"

The dog was blurry and absolutely _huge_. Not only that, but Harry was sure it was the same dog that he'd seen around Hogwarts with Crookshanks. What on Earth was it doing here?

It really did look like a Grim he noted as he squinted at it. Trelawney would be thrilled to know he'd come face to face with an omen of death. Harry just hoped he lived long enough to tell her.

The dog didn't look threatening. In fact it was whimpering pitifully and gazing up at him with sad eyes.

All around Harry were people staring at him for yelling. He shrugged helplessly and they continued on their way.

Ever so slowly, so as not to startle the dog, Harry lowered his hand to its head. The dog sniffed at him, but otherwise seemed unconcerned. Gingerly, Harry stroked it, ready to withdraw his hand the moment the dog attacked.

It never did. Harry grew more comfortable by the moment until he remembered he was supposed to be running for his life. "Good dog," he said, before beginning to move away.

The dog followed.

"Go on," Harry said, making shooing motions at it.

The dog just stared at him through big soulful eyes.

"Fine, you can come," Harry said, wondering if he was mad to be talking to a dog as though it understood him.

The dog barked happily and wagged its tail so enthusiastically that for a moment Harry thought it _had_ understood him. It ran a few paces ahead of Harry and turned back to him as if saying, "Well? Are you coming?"

As Harry had no idea where he was and little idea where he was going he shrugged his shoulders. It didn't really matter which way he went as long as he kept moving away from the hotel he'd left Wormtail in. Who knew, maybe he'd get lucky.

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Peter was thankful for the cloak he'd taken from the boy as he sped directly to the Leaky Cauldron. He told himself it didn't matter that the people he bumped into looked around in confusion when they couldn't see what hit them, as long as he got the boy back.

It was times like this he envied Sirius Black. His dog form was inconspicuous enough he could have run down any London road and been ignored and fast enough he could have got there in no time. His rat form definitely didn't have the speed and he could just imagine how people would react to him despite London's rat population. There would have been screaming and kicking and stampeding. He shuddered. Nothing was worth risking that.

So he'd been forced to use the cloak. James' wonderful cloak they'd used to prank the Slytherins, and especially Snivellus, so many times. He'd always wanted this cloak for himself and now it was finally his. James Potter didn't deserve such a treasure, nor his worthless brat, but _he_ did.

But then that was the way of life, Peter knew. He sat down behind some dustbins out of the way and still invisible. The Leaky Cauldron was just a few doors down and from here he could see in both directions down the quiet street. If the boy came here – and frankly where else could he go? – then Peter would see him coming and could apprehend him. He would have to be crafty though or someone might see something.

What had he been thinking about? Oh yes. James had had everything he could possibly want and then, when he already had everything, he'd gotten Lily Evans, too. Lily was the smartest and most beautiful witch in their entire year. They'd gotten married and had a child, the very same child he was hunting now and they'd been so despicably happy he couldn't bear it, not when he, Peter had been alone. But not now. Now he was dead and so was Lily and they wouldn't make him feel bad by being so in love with each other all the time. Lily should have been looking at him like that.

The Master had agreed of course. He'd told Peter about how the silly mudblood was beneath him and it was like Peter should have known that all along, but he only realised it at that moment when the Master told him so. The Master had told him the truth, how he was better than all his friends, better than most of the wizards on the planet, except the Master, naturally. The Master told him he deserved girls, as many as he wanted, and riches beyond imagining and _so much power_.

A part of Peter had always thought that, but it was squashed beneath the bigger part that had felt inferior to his old friends. The Master had changed it all though, he had seen how glorious Peter's future would be and he promised to help him on his way. Peter had accepted, who wouldn't with those kinds of prospects. All he'd had to do was have the Master's mark engraved on his arm and serve until all wizards bowed before them and then, then Peter would shine.

It had taken too long, though. He'd served, he'd spied on the Order of the Phoenix and reported their actions as the Master wanted and then he'd handed over Lily and James. It hadn't been an easy decision, not at first anyway. True, James had all the things Peter had wanted and Lily was one of those things even if she was a dirty mudblood, but they had been kind to him, had defended him in school and James had helped him with the animagus transformation, even though Peter knew he could have done it on his own eventually. But then the Master had reminded him that he didn't need anyone – except for the Master – and Peter had realised that he had always been wrong. They hadn't been his friends, they'd been using him for his popularity, his power and his intelligence all along and Peter had done it, he'd told the Master where they were hiding.

James and Lily were killed but the child lived. He lived while the Master disappeared and poor Peter had been cut off. It hadn't been hard to come to the conclusion that if he wanted to avoid Azkaban – not that the prison could possibly hold him, but it would be an annoyance he could do without – then he needed to take care of his dear old friend Sirius. Remus, the moronic werewolf, wouldn't be a problem, never having been told about them switching secret keepers, but Sirius would go to Dumbledore and then the Aurors would be looking for him.

So he'd done what was necessary and Sirius had gone to jail while he went to live with a wizarding family as a rat for twelve years. Twelve years of sleeping and eating as much as he could. If they weren't blood traitors Peter would have had kind thoughts for the Weasleys.

A familiar mop of hair was coming his way. Yes, Peter was a genius to have guessed he'd come this way. He glanced up and down the street. It was still early and none of the shops were open yet so there were only one or two people wandering around. If the boy caused a scene he could obliviate them. True his obliviations had never been all that good, as the hotel clerk would probably attest if he could remember his own name right now, but they were muggles and no one would miss them if they became vegetables.

No! How could _that_ have happened? There, trotting merrily at the boys heels was the very recognisable form of Padfoot. How had Sirius found him so quickly? It wasn't _fair_.

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Harry had been following the dog for at least an hour. Truthfully he had no idea why he followed it except that any direction was better than none.

As they walked the dog would keep casting glances at Harry as though it were making sure he was still there. It's doggy tongue lolled from it's mouth in a doggy grin and Harry found he was a very friendly and affectionate dog. How could he have been scared of it?

Together they turned a corner and Harry was met with the sight of the Leaky Cauldron tucked in between two shops. He couldn't believe it. Did the dog really know where Harry wanted to go and take him right there? Perhaps it was a magical breed of dog. That would explain its unfortunate resemblance to a Grim.

Harry had to stop himself running for the dingy looking pub and the safety it promised. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself until he was inside. So he kept his pace at a brisk walk until he was right outside the door. He was struck once more with the feeling of invisibility as the gazes of passing strangers slid right past him.

Before he could open the door he heard a whine emanate from the dogs mouth. "What is it?" Harry asked before realising it couldn't answer. The dog sniffed about and cast its gaze up and down the street, seemingly searching for something. He nudged Harry with his nose as if telling him to get a move on and then moved a few steps away, still looking around. Harry turned and placed a hand on the doorknob but before he could turn it hands seized him from behind and a wand was pressed into his throat.

"Make one sound, boy and you'll be dead before you can make another."

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A/N: I'm sorry this has been so long but I wanted to get New Life out of the way before I continued this. The scene from Sirius' point of view has actually been written for a while now, since before I went in hospital. Anyway, here it is and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did be sure to review and let me know.

Thanks to those who reviewed.

Nats.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_I am writing to you as a concerned parent after hearing about the kidnapping of Harry Potter. As you know my son shares a dormitory with Harry and the thought that Sirius Black has been in that room twice now fills me with dread._

_The boys are thirteen years old. They come to school to learn and to be children, not to be terrified when a friend is taken from the next bed. If this is how the Boy-Who-Lived is protected in your school I dread to think just how easy it would be to walk in and take any other child._

_It is only the fact that Black was only interested in Harry that prevents me from pulling Seamus from Hogwarts and teaching him at home. Still I must implore you to look to our children's safety at all times. _

_Deirdre Finnegan._

_Dear Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and Chief Mugwump of the Wizengamot._

_As I am sure you are aware the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, on whose behalf I write this letter, is concerned at the apparent ease with which Sirius Black, a known murderer and escaped convict was able to break into your school and take one of your most noteworthy students._

_As you know after this most unfortunate event took place Minister Fudge immediately recalled the Dementors, after all Black has no further reason to return there and we will be using their abilities to search the country. Your assistance in the search would be most appreciated._

_It is with distress that I add Black has probably already killed young Mr Potter, but I, like many others, pray for the safe return of the boy who has captured our hearts._

_An investigation will be led by Minister Fudge himself into these events and you and your staff are urged to provide any assistance you can and not to hinder the investigative team._

_Yours Sincerely, _

_Madame Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge._

Albus lowered the letters sadly and glanced about his office. Scrolls littered the desk and some of the chairs and more were arriving hourly. He would read them all. Not one of them could possibly say anything he was not already thinking. Even not knowing Sirius Black was an animagus he should still have been able to prevent him from taking Harry. The boy was his responsibility and anything that happened to him was his fault.

The letters were mostly from parents who, like Mrs Finnegan, were concerned about the safety of their own children. Some came from members of the public who wanted to berate him for not protecting Harry to the best of his ability. Not for the first time he wondered what reaction he would get if it were any other child out there.

It seemed he had received a letter from every parent _except_ for Harry's. Of course Lily and James were long dead and probably rolling in their graves at what their only child was going through at the hands of one they'd called a friend, but why hadn't Petunia Dursley written yet? Was she too distraught?

He'd sent Molly Weasley to tell them the news. She was a comforting woman and her own bond with Harry would allow her to sympathise with what they were going through. He sighed. He really should visit the poor family himself to reassure them that they were doing everything possible to recover Harry.

His fireplace flashed green and a paper plane flew out. It zoomed around the room twice before setting down on Albus' desk. Albus cringed. It was a Ministry memo.

He scanned it quickly before leaning back in his seat. Cornelius had removed all the Dementors the same morning Harry had disappeared as there was no reason for Black to return. Now he wanted to run an investigation of his own. They needed to cease this foolishness and concentrate on the search. The longer they delayed the harder it would be and the less likely they were to find Harry alive.

He glanced up on hearing Fawkes let out a trill and felt the soothing effects of phoenix song. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions," he said lightly.

Fawkes almost seemed to nod his head before singing a note that made Albus feel silly for not asking earlier.

"Really? Can you find Harry? Is he alright?" Phoenixes were a powerfully magical bird, capable of great feats and Fawkes had been fond of Harry ever since they'd met last year. He wouldn't have burned in front of just anyone. It was entirely possible that Fawkes could sense Harry in some way.

Fawkes seemed to think about it before singing a few piping notes that conveyed both doubt and worry to any who heard it.

"Can you take me to him?"

Fawkes actually shook his tiny head.

"I see. Fawkes, my dear friend, will you go to him? Help him in any way you can. Please."

Fawkes eyed him for a long moment before he flashed into a ball of fire and disappeared.

Albus sank into his chair and closed his eyes. Fawkes could very well be Harry's best chance.

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Minerva McGonagall glanced around the crowded common room. No one was playing Quidditch today, or studying in the library, or any of the other myriad of things they liked to do on weekends. Instead they sat in sombre groups and talked quietly. Some of the younger students were crying.

"Mr Weasley," Minerva strode up to the head boy with an air of calm that she did not feel. It was important to be strong for the students at times like these.

"Professor McGonagall," Percy Weasley probably would have stood to attention were it not for the small form of Ginny Weasley lying against his shoulder, apparently in an uneasy sleep. Her eyes were red and blotchy patches covered her pale cheeks.

"Be still, Mr Weasley," Minerva said quietly, so as not to wake the girl. "I'm looking for Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Are they here?" In fact they were the only Gryffindors _not _here.

"I think they're up in the third year boys dorm, Professor," Percy said.

"I see," Minerva couldn't stop the grim look of disapproval crossing her face.

"No, Professor," Percy said quickly, seeing her lips disappear. "Hermione was upset and Ron was trying to calm her down. She wanted to sleep for a bit, but she's been having trouble with her room mates. They won't leave her alone."

Minerva nodded. The two were only third years after all. They were unlikely to be doing any of the things she often had to give detention to the older students for doing. Still it was against the school rules.

"Very well." She turned to head up the stairs, but was stopped by Percy's voice.

"Is there any news about Harry?"

Instantly she was the centre of attention.

"Nothing as yet," she said gently. Before anyone could ask her anymore questions she swept up the staircase to the boys dormitories.

She found Ronald and Hermione exactly where Percy had said they would be. Hermione was lying face down on Harry's bed, fast asleep. Ronald lay on his own bed, staring at the ceiling. He started when Minerva entered and sat up.

"Professor," he stammered. "Hermione's sleeping."

"Yes, I can see that," Minerva said dryly. Silently she berated herself for taking that tone with the boy. He was obviously distressed at his friend's disappearance.

"I can wake her," he offered. His voice was hoarse and Minerva remembered hearing that he'd stopped speaking to all but the girl lying on the bed.

"No," Minerva said quickly. "There is no need for that. I just wanted to make sure you were both well. It is quite understandable that Mr Potter's abduction would upset you." She noted how Ronald flinched at her words and again was angry with herself. Such tactlessness was expected in students, but not in teachers. "I have spoken to your Professors and you are both excused from tomorrow's classes."

Ronald seemed to think about it. "Thank you, Professor, but I don't think that's necessary. Hermione would go spare if she even heard you suggest it and honestly I would rather be busy."

Minerva nodded. "If that is what you wish." She turned for the door, but paused on seeing Ronald's face fall.

"So you don't know anything about Harry, then?" he said sadly.

Minerva's heart leapt into her throat at his heartbroken voice. "I'm so sorry, Mr Weasley. I know this is hard for you. Please believe me that everything that can be done is being done. We will do anything necessary to bring him home safely."

Ronald nodded and looked away and Minerva was sure she saw his eyes well up with tears. It was this that made her do something she hadn't done in many years. She hugged a student.

It had always been her way to distance herself from the young Gryffindors, especially after the war with You-Know-Who had begun. It had been easier to keep them at arms length rather than become attached to children who would grow up and go out into a world where it was all too likely they would become targets of a Dark Lord or worse, his followers.

But Ronald's distress had touched her heart and she hadn't been able to stop herself and she had reached out to him. Before she knew it he was hugging her back and making snuffling noises into her shoulder. "There, there," she whispered soothingly.

Her voice seemed to bring him back to himself and he pulled away. Minerva nodded to him and left without another word.

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Peter cast his gaze up the street before finally making a decision. He had the cloak didn't he? He would take the boy back from right under Padfoot's nose, just like he took him from under Dumbledore's. Maybe this time he could even taunt him about it.

Taking care to be as silent as possible he approached the boy and dog and followed them right up to the door of the Leaky Cauldron. The boy stopped in the doorway and looked about, seemingly enchanted with the way people's eyes would slide right across him as though he weren't there. He turned and reached for the handle as Padfoot whined in confusion. He'd smelled Peter.

Peter quickened his pace but took care not to make a sound. "What is it?" the boy asked stupidly. Padfoot's reply was to nudge him toward the door with his nose before returning to his search for Peter.

He never opened the door, though. Before he could Peter wrapped one arm around his chest and pointed the boys own wand directly into his throat.

"Make one sound, boy and you'll be dead before you can make another," he hissed into the boy's ear and turned him so he stood between Peter and Padfoot.

Padfoot was growling menacingly, but made no move to approach. Passers by stared at the dog, wondering what had it so worked up and decided against approaching in case it turned on them.

"Stay away, Padfoot, my _dear_, old friend, or I'll decide the boy's not worth keeping alive."

Padfoot growled and backed up. Peter almost giggled at the horrified look on his canine face.

"Who are you talking to?" the boy asked hesitantly.

"Silence!" Peter ordered, jabbing the wand harder into the boy's throat. "You see, Padfoot, I have all the power here. Now who is weak?"

Padfoot shook his head. Peter was disappointed. He'd hoped to goad him into transforming and causing a scene when the muggles recognised him as the notorious Sirius Black.

He was very aware of the fact he needed to move before someone came out of the door behind him. He was still mostly hidden under the cloak, but the boy would be seen. He weighed his options. He needed to incapacitate Padfoot or they'd be followed. There was one way to do so quickly and effectively.

"Crucio," he said gleefully and this time he really did giggle as the dog dropped to the ground and howled. He held the curse for a long time, relishing the power and control it gave him as well as the suddenly sickened face of the boy he held captive. Finally he lowered the wand and watched as the dog broke down into a whimpering mess. "Stupefy," he said when he finally tired of Padfoot's agony.

"What was that curse?" the boy demanded, a touch of hysteria in his voice. "What did you do?"

"Stupefy," Peter whispered again, this time pointing the wand at the boy. The boy slumped into his arms and Peter hurriedly bundled him under the invisibility cloak. He cast a levitation charm on him and felt him hover a few inches above the ground. Peter held him upright and started moving away, passing very close to Padfoot as he did.

He recalled an old muggle saying, "Never kick a dog while it's down." With another giggle he reared back slightly and kicked the dog as hard as he could and heard the snap of bone. With Padfoot now unable to follow he guided the floating boy away on the next step of their journey.

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Harry awoke slowly. His limbs felt stiff and unresponsive and his head ached. He sat up and looked around. As he did he remembered Wormtail catching him in front of the Leaky Cauldron and cursing the dog.

The dog! Wormtail had called it Padfoot. That was another name from the Marauder's Map. So maybe Padfoot was an animagus too? Maybe all four of them were. He took a moment to wonder what kinds of animals Prongs and Moony could be, but couldn't think of anything. He took heart, though, from the fact that someone else had some idea of what was happening to him and they seemed to want to help him.

Harry tugged on the cuff which was once more around his wrist. He seemed to be in some kind of abandoned warehouse. He assumed they were still in London, but couldn't be sure.

He sighed. Wormtail was unlikely to give him another chance to escape. It looked like his only hope lay with Padfoot, whoever he was and possibly Moony and Prongs, unless they were on Wormtail's side. He had imagined the four Marauder's to be some kind of fun loving pranksters, always in trouble, but never hurting anyone, something like the Weasley twins. It was difficult to equate that image with Wormtail.

Why hadn't Padfoot transformed into a human? That was one of the many things bothering Harry right now. Surely it would have been easier for him to convince Harry as a human and he might have been more good when Wormtail showed up again if he'd been able to do magic.

"Ah, so you're awake, then," Wormtail's hated voice rang out.

Harry tried to turn to the voice but had difficulty with the cuff holding him in place.

"You've been most troublesome, boy," Wormtail continued. "You should have stayed where you were."

Harry was really starting to hate Wormtail. The way he kept calling him 'boy' reminded him of Uncle Vernon.

"But it no longer matters. In fact it works to my advantage. Padfoot is no longer capable of following us."

"You killed him?" Harry gasped.

A strange look crossed Wormtail's face. "No. It wasn't necessary. He is incapacitated and there is no one else that even knows I am alive."

Harry frowned at that. People thought Wormtail was dead? Why? "What about Prongs and Moony? Don't they know you're alive?"

It was Wormtail's turn to look surprised. "He has the map now," he muttered, apparently to himself. He gave Harry an appraising glance. "Prongs is long dead. I as good as killed him myself and Moony is an idiot who believes all that he is told. Padfoot is the only one who knew the truth."

Harry's heart sank at the news. No other Marauder's would be coming to his aid then. "What did you do to Prongs?" he asked dispiritedly.

"I gave his location to the Master," Wormtail said proudly. "The Master was so pleased with me."

"You betrayed your friend?" Harry asked in disbelief. He couldn't imagine ever selling out one of his friends to Voldemort, or them doing it to him either.

"He wasn't my friend," Wormtail hissed angrily. "He was always prancing about, so arrogant and proud. He showed off every chance he got. First it was his power, he was the first of us to figure out the animagus transformation, then it was his wealth when his parents died. Then he showed off his wife and son. She should have been _mine._"

"You were jealous," Harry said slowly. "You wanted what he had so you gave him to Voldemort. Did you watch as he killed your friend?"

"Crucio," Wormtail yelled and Harry collapsed onto the floor. It was pain beyond anything he had ever experienced before. Red hot knives stabbed him all over, every nerve screamed for release. Harry was sure he was screaming too. Then it was gone and Harry was lying face down on the floor, one arm twisted behind him.

He couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth. "I guess not."

The pain came again. It lasted longer this time and when it stopped Harry was shaking uncontrollably. Still he couldn't stop himself from speaking. "Did you at least get what you wanted? His wife? His money?"

"The Master killed her too," Wormtail said bitterly. "I was forced to live as a rat so that my other 'friends' wouldn't try to get revenge on me. I got nothing."

"Serves you right," Harry said from between clenched teeth.

"Crucio." It was worse than being bitten by a basilisk, worse than facing Quirrell and Voldemort in first year, worse than the time Uncle Vernon had broken his arm and locked him in the cupboard for an entire day before he was taken to the hospital.

He would do anything to make it stop. Just let it end. "Please…"

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"Please…" The boy whispered, but apparently didn't have the strength to say more.

The words brought a thrill of satisfaction to Peter. If he looked at the boy just right he could almost imagine it was James lying before him, powerless, weak, and begging. And when he looked up and said that one magical word, his green eyes shining with unshed tears he could almost hear Lily's voice saying it.

He raised the wand and let the curse end. The boy slumped to the ground, thoroughly exhausted, his limbs shaking uncontrollably.

Peter had forgotten just how good that curse felt, how powerful it made the caster feel. Thirteen years had passed since he'd last used it and now he'd cast it four times in one day. First Padfoot had succumbed to him and then the boy who embodied both Lily and James. He wanted more, but the boy was in no shape to continue. They were stuck here until morning anyway. Maybe in a few hours…

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Sirius Black, who at this very moment was being looked over by a very practical vet, was thoroughly miserable. He'd found his poor godson and _almost _had him to safety, but his own stupidity had got in the way. Harry's hand had been _on the door handle_ when he'd gone and whined, distracting him. If he'd kept silent Harry would have opened that door and been safe. He might even be back at Hogwarts by now.

It had been the smell, strong and coming their way that had made him do it. He'd recognised it immediately as belonging to the rat and hadn't been able to stop himself.

Then before he could even react Wormtail had Harry and there was no way Sirius could have gotten to him before a curse was sent. Wormtail hadn't waited, he'd cursed Sirius straight off and then it had all gone black.

He'd woken up here a few minutes ago. From what he could gather an elderly muggle woman had found him on the street and brought him in on seeing the way his paws twitched. She couldn't have known it was the after effects of the Cruciatus and neither did the vet. The vet had recognised the broken leg when she'd examined him, though.

Now the muggle woman was fretting in a corner while a vet spoke calmly to her. It seemed they thought he'd been run over by a car. Sirius' ears pricked up when he heard the words, "surgery. Of course that's a last resort. Are you sure you want to take responsibility for him? Depending on what we find it may be kinder to put him down."

A querulous voice replied, "He's just a poor little doggie. Do what you can for him. Will I be able to take him home afterwards?"

Little? He wasn't little! He was a big, manly, beast of a dog, that's what he was.

"I don't see why not," the vet said kindly. "He has no collar so I expect he's just a stray. I'll need to give him a full health check first, you understand. If you'll go out to the waiting area, I'll have someone get you a cup of tea."

Sirius lifted his head in alarm. Live with that old woman? He was a dog, not a piece of property to be traded! Besides he had better things to do, like prove his innocence kill Wormtail and rescue Harry, probably not in that order. For a moment he allowed himself to think of the possibility of living as some old bird's pampered pet. No, that kind of living was best left to Wormtail.

The old woman left Sirius alone with the vet. She was quite young for the job, but seemed capable.

She picked up some kind of weird device and spoke into it. "Evan, I've got a stray up here. Car accident. Probable broken leg, maybe injured in other places I can't see. Needs an X-ray. Can you get everything set up? Thanks."

X-ray? Sirius didn't know what that was and he certainly wasn't hanging about to find out. He placed one paw on the table and tried to put weight on it, immediately collapsing back onto the table.

The vet had noticed the attempt and come over to stop him trying again. "You're certainly a spirited thing aren't you? No stupid little car's going to keep you down, I see. Don't worry, boy, I'll have you out of here as soon as I can and then you can go and live with the nice lady who brought you here. Won't that be nice?"

'_No it most certainly won't,'_ Sirius thought frantically. _'I have to get to Harry before Wormtail leaves the country with him.'_

He growled impatiently at the woman as she tried to hold him still.

"None of that," she said firmly, tapping him on the nose. She sighed. "I guess you need another sedative."

She stepped away and opened a cabinet.

Sirius was panicking. Right now he needed to get out of here, but he couldn't stand on the broken leg and would never catch them like this, but he didn't have time to stay here in this muggle clinic and wait for their barbaric healing methods to work. There was only one option he could think of.

The vet turned back to him, a syringe in one hand. "Just one little injection and you'll be out like a light," she promised cheerfully, her eyes on the needle. Sirius wasn't sure why she thought telling him these things was helping. No normal dog would understand and even if it did then he doubted it would be comforted.

The vet looked up from the syringe.

She screamed.

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A/N: Ok that last little bit was really fun to write so I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did. Poor Sirius at the mercy of a muggle vet, but not for long.

Please let me know what you think in a review or you can join my yahoo! Group and comment there. The link is on my profile.

Thanks for reading.

Nats.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

The vet screamed.

Sirius jumped up from his perch on the table, one arm held protectively close to his chest and placed his other hand firmly over her mouth. Her eyes were jumping between his face and the table he'd been lying on as Padfoot moments before.

"No more screaming," Sirius warned her gruffly, removing his hand.

"You're…" she took a deep breath. "You're Sirius Black." It seemed an enormous effort for her to remain even that calm.

Sirius grunted. So she was screaming because he was an escaped convict, not because he'd just changed from a dog to a human. She must have seen him on the muggle picture box.

"What did you do to the dog?"

"The dog's gone," he said shortly.

"You killed the dog?" her eyes were wide and terrified.

"No," Sirius looked at her like she was crazy.

"But…" her gaze shifted to the arm he was cradling against himself. "You…"

"Yes, I was the dog!" Sirius was starting to get exasperated with her now. Couldn't she tell he was in pain and in a hurry? "Is there something you can do about this?" he gestured at his arm.

The vet looked from him to the door and back again, before swallowing hard.

Fine. If she thought he was a crazed homicidal maniac then he would prove her right.

He growled deep in his throat. With his uninjured arm he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer. "I want you to fix my arm. Now," he said, using his most dangerous voice.

Her gulp was almost audible. "I-I'm a vet. I deal with animals, not humans."

"I. Don't. Care." Sirius spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "Bind it up and quickly. Do whatever it takes. Just do it_ quickly_." He released her and watched her stumble backwards. "Don't even think about making a run for it," he warned her.

She nodded frantically and opened a cupboard door, pulling out gauze and bandages. Sirius kept his expression cold the whole time and as she began to splint his arm he contemplated how appropriate it would be to laugh maniacally. Eventually he decided against it.

He moved the arm carefully. While still very painful it now afforded him much more mobility and he sighed in relief. The splint would transform with him and he should be able to run three legged for a while until he managed to get his hands on a wand.

"Right," he said to the vet. "I'm going to turn back into a dog and you are going to walk me right out the front door, understand? No stopping, no hand signals or anything that will give me away. Then I'm gone and no one got hurt. After that you can call the poleese men if you like and don't forget to mention how I can change into a dog, I'm sure they'll love that part."

She nodded fearfully and he transformed back into Padfoot. He raised his front paw and loped after her as she headed for the door. In this form he could smell the fear rolling off her and felt a brief pang of regret that it had happened this way.

"Where are you taking Mr Tiddles?" a voice asked.

Sirius glanced up into the wrinkled face of the old woman who'd brought him here. Mr Tiddles? That was a name for some pampered, pansy of a poodle, not a horrifying, hulking hound like him.

The vet continued to the main exit, saying as calmly as she could, "I'll explain in just a moment Ms Cromwell… Mr Tiddles?"

'See,' thought Sirius. 'Even as scared as she is she recognises that I'm far too masculine for a name like that.'

"Oh, yes," Ms Cromwell nodded heartily. "You see, if he doesn't make it I want to be able to call him something at his funeral and Mr Tiddles just fits him so well.

'No it doesn't' Sirius screamed mentally. 'Senile old crone.'

By now the vet had composed herself and had opened the door. Sirius didn't waste a moment and ran straight through as quickly as he could on three legs. He must have ran at least a mile before he stopped, Ms Cromwell's calls for Mr Tiddles to come back spurring him to greater speeds than he had ever achieved before.

Muggles, he decided, were completely insane.

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Molly Weasley placed the last dish in the sink and waved her wand to start the water running. There were a lot of them today, considering it was only her and Arthur living here. She'd spent the last two days baking as much as she could, it calmed her and right now she needed to stay calm.

She'd been so worried, every moment since she heard the news that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban. Arthur had told her the Ministry suspected he was going to go after Harry and she'd been terrified for him. Then on Halloween Black had mutilated the portrait of the Fat Lady and not that long ago had stood over Ron's bed with a knife. Her worry had only escalated and then she'd heard Harry had been taken.

Yesterday morning she'd gone straight to Hogwarts to see Ron and Hermione to make sure they were holding up alright. Hermione was clearly distraught, constantly sniffling into a handkerchief, while Ron was blaming himself as if he could have done something to prevent it.

What worried her most was what poor Harry could be going through. Black was insane – everyone knew that – he might do anything. That had been brought home to her rather severely with Professor Snape's comments at the meeting she had attended with Arthur.

After the meeting Albus had requested she visit Harry's family and tell them the sad news. She'd been curious to meet them, having heard so little from Harry. She'd seen them at the train station and thought they appeared to be unpleasant people, but she knew that couldn't be the case. Just look at the way Harry turned out. Of course, she'd remembered Ron telling her that they'd locked Harry away without food after his first year, but she'd always attributed that to Ron exaggerating the truth to get himself out of trouble for stealing the car. Harry had certainly never complained about it and she'd shrugged the comment off, assuming he had been merely grounded for staying up too late, or not doing his homework.

So she had gone to visit Vernon and Petunia Dursley woefully unprepared for the reality of the situation. They were truly awful people. She'd expected to comfort them, commiserate a little, perhaps Petunia would need a shoulder to cry on. Instead she hadn't even been invited in and had been forced to tell them the news from the front step. Petunia had sniffed disdainfully and turned away with no apparent interest. Molly had been prepared to chalk this up to shock until she'd seen Vernon's face. He had looked positively gleeful at the news. Then he'd slammed the door in her face.

She'd stood there for a while, not at all sure what to do. Eventually she'd knocked again. This time no one came to the door, but she heard a boy laughing happily inside. Losing her temper a little she'd almost forced her way in, but then it had all come back to her. Ron's comments, the way Harry flinched when she hugged him and never really looked her in the eyes, his underfed appearance every time she saw him at the beginning of the school year.

Thinking back on it she resisted the urge to return and hex them for it all. Harry was such a sweet boy, so well behaved and polite. He was always genuinely grateful for every little thing she did for him, probably because it surprised him that anyone would bother.

She gritted her teeth in fury and started a line of dishes hopping to the dishcloth to be wiped clean. Well she'd had enough. This year Harry would come straight to the Burrow and she would take care of him herself. That is, once they found him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albus Dumbledore rapped on the door with dread. He'd put this off as long as he'd been able but now was the time to face up to his responsibility.

He didn't have a long wait. The door was opened by a very skinny woman with a long neck. "Yes," she said, looking him up and down.

"Hello, Mrs Dursley," Albus said politely. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, may I come in? It's about Harry."

"You've found him, I suppose," Petunia Dursley said with an air of disinterest. In fact Albus thought he detected a hint of disappointment. She stepped back to allow him to pass, but did not invite him over the threshold, nor did she offer him a seat once they were in the sitting room. Deciding her lack of manners was likely caused by grief Albus suited himself and took a seat.

"Alas, no," Albus said sadly. "I came to offer my condolences to your family and to assure you that everything that can be done will be." He began to probe her mind using legilimency.

Mrs Dursley sniffed. "How very… kind of you."

Albus almost recoiled. As she'd spoke he had received a strong impression that she felt they were wasting their time and she'd just as soon tell them not to bother. She was also resisting the impulse to tell him to leave. Prevalent about her thoughts was the notion that she didn't care one way or another what happened to Harry.

Albus wiped the shock from his face with practised ease. "Is Mr Dursley at home?"

"He's at work," Petunia replied. "And Dudley's away at school. He goes to Smeltings, you know, a very prestigious private school. He's such an intelligent boy, his teachers just don't understand him…"

"I see," Albus interrupted. "I was wondering if you and your husband would be amenable to giving an interview to a reporter. It may be helpful to appeal to the kidnapper, he was once a friend of Harry's father, James. If he saw how deeply Harry's absence has affected you he may reconsider. It is only a slim chance I grant you."

"We shall do no such thing," Petunia exclaimed. "Do you think we want our names printed in some rag of yours next to his? After he blew up my dear sister-in-law?"

Albus sighed. He was receiving a great deal of hostility, directed at not only himself, but Harry as well. The woman was almost consumed with hatred for the magical community. There was no fear, no grief for her nephew.

"I believe this was a mistake," he said after along moment. "I take my leave of you, Mrs Dursley."

Petunia nodded and walked with him to the door. "You're the Headmaster of his school, aren't you?" she said as he opened the door.

"I am," Albus agreed.

"Vernon and I were wondering – we suggested it to the boy, but I expect he forgot to mention it – should he be found, is it possible for him to stay at school over the summer, too?"

Albus stared at her. Never before had he met someone like her, with so little regard for the well-being of family. "Trust me, Mrs Dursley, you will never hear from Harry again." He swept away from her and the horrible, gleeful smile her face now wore.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry stumbled slightly as he stepped onto the train. He felt weak and feverish and was sure the trembling of his hands was noticeable to everyone.

Wormtail kept a tight grip on his elbow, serving the joint purpose of stopping him from attempting to escape and keeping him upright. Harry was steered into an empty compartment and dropped unceremoniously onto a seat.

Wormtail had used the same curse he'd used on the hotel clerk to gain them entry onto this train. Harry had prayed that someone would notice all this magic going on and come save him. He'd given up on escaping on his own the night before, after Wormtail had woken him for the fourth time to torment him some more. It was like a dam had burst within Wormtail's mind and now he couldn't stop himself from causing Harry pain.

It hadn't all been that _Crucio_ curse either. When he'd tired of the curse, or perhaps felt that Harry had taken all he could he had resorted to physically beating Harry. Not anywhere it showed, of course, but the result was at least one broken rib and bruising over much of his body that was hidden under his oversized clothes.

A man's voice echoed throughout the compartment, telling them that departure would be in just a few moments. Harry tried to shift into a more comfortable position so that his ribs weren't under pressure, but found it difficult to do. He couldn't even sit without trembling and every tiny movement made him gasp for breath.

The compartment door slid open and a girl walked in. She appeared to be in her late teens and carried a backpack over one shoulder and what Harry took to be a briefcase. She was fairly nondescript, with brown eyes and dirty blond hair. She sat down opposite Harry without waiting for an invitation, seemingly oblivious to Wormtail's glares and pulled a laptop from her case. Within moments she had it set up and began typing something. Harry guessed she was a student of some kind.

The student seemed to take Wormtail's expression for one of curiosity and spoke in a gentle voice with a heavy French accent. "I am working on my dissertation," she explained eagerly. "I don't suppose you know anything about economics do you?"

Wormtail shook his head almost imperceptibly and Harry whispered, "no," not wanting to jar himself any further by moving his head. A light flashed somewhere in the corridor outside, probably something to do with train signals, Harry thought absently.

The student shrugged. "Oh well." She didn't seem all that disappointed and continued to type. After a moment she looked up. "Is this your first trip to France?" she asked Harry kindly. From the corner of his eye Harry saw the light flash once more.

"Yeah," Harry said quietly after a quick glance at Wormtail.

"I'm going to visit my family," she told him. "This is my first time on the Channel Train, but it's so much more convenient than ferry or plane. My family are meeting me at the other side."

As she spoke they began to slowly move forward. "What about you?" she asked cheerily as the train picked up speed.

"Er." Again Harry looked to Wormtail who was watching this conversation warily. His hand was buried in the pocket of a pair of Harry's jeans, presumably clenched around Harry's wand.

"This is a business trip," Wormtail said after a lengthy pause. "My son is here for a bit of a holiday."

"Looks like he needs it," the student replied, giving Harry an appraising look. "Have you been ill, sweetheart?"

"Yes," Wormtail answered quickly before Harry could open his mouth. "Very ill."

"Oh. I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks," Harry said, very aware of the tight grip Wormtail still had on his wand.

The student gazed at him for a moment more before turning back to her laptop. Though her fingers continued to tap the keys Harry got the distinct impression she wasn't really paying attention to what she was writing.

The compartment remained silent for the rest of the journey. Harry found himself longing for a window, but knew that even if there was one there wouldn't be all that much to see. Wormtail continued to grasp the wand like a lifeline, his eyes darting between the student and Harry as if he weren't sure which one was likely to be more difficult. The student seemed restless and more interested in Harry and Wormtail than her work.

Harry guessed it was about twenty minutes later that the man's voice from earlier echoed through the compartment once more, informing them that they were about to reach their destination.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sirius' loping gait paused outside the Leaky Cauldron. He'd had to run here on three legs from the veterinary clinic what felt like several miles away. Now he was here he could barely get a whiff of Peter and Harry, too many people had been walking about on the street and even in and out the pub door. Sirius was sure that if he were in his human form right now he would be overtaken by his anger, as it was he couldn't suppress the growl that ripped from his throat.

What was he going to do now? Peter could have taken Harry anywhere from here and he had no way of following. He suspected Peter would try and get over to France first of all then from there to Voldemort, but he couldn't be sure.

A flash of light from a nearby alley caught his eye and he stiffened. It had looked a little too unnatural, maybe spell-fire. Cautiously he edged forward, holding his injured leg high and peered around the corner, his canine nose trying to take in as much information as it possibly could. His senses immediately screamed that magic was nearby. He got a distinct impression of fire before he was overwhelmed by the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

"Fawkes?" Sirius tried to say but it came out a startled yip. Heading back as far as he could so he was out of sight of any passers by Sirius transformed and looked about for Dumbledore's phoenix. "Fawkes," he called quietly, in English this time.

The firebird dropped into view singing his song. Sirius felt immense relief even though he had no idea what Fawkes could do to help him. Phoenixes had amazing intuition, he recalled, Fawkes would know he was innocent, but how did that help?

"Why are you here, Fawkes?" Sirius asked wearily. Fawkes, unable to answer in any way Sirius could understand just looked at him.

What were the other qualities of a phoenix? Healing tears, obviously, not much help unless you had an open wound, completely ineffective against broken bones. Capable of carrying heavy loads, Sirius didn't have any heavy loads with him. Fire travel, would be handy if Sirius knew where he wanted to go… Wait!

"How did you find me?" Sirius asked the bird, not expecting an answer. "Can you find Harry the same way?"

Fawkes leaped into the air trilling happily and offered his tail feathers to Sirius. Sirius hardly paused to think before transforming back into his dog form and grasping the feathers gently between his teeth.

They reappeared instantly and it took Sirius a moment to adjust to the dimness of the corridor he appeared to be in after the brightness of the London streets.

Sirius sniffed gently, filling his nostrils with nearby scents. Oil, many people, eklektrik and… Harry? Easing forward and staying in the shadows as much as possible he followed the scent to a nearby door. A feminine voice spoke on the other side. "Is this your first trip to France?" So Harry and Peter weren't alone in there then.

A flash of light alerted him that Fawkes had left. Sirius wondered at his strange behaviour. He could have stayed and helped at least.

Sirius looked about for clues as to where they were. The corridor was poorly lit with squares of light hitting the floor from rooms lining one side. It was like a train, Sirius realised. A train to where though?

Three people were in that compartment, Sirius decided, sniffing once more, Harry, Peter and the woman. There was something about her scent that caught at his memory, but he couldn't place it.

The floor started to shake beneath his paws and Sirius knew he was right, they were on a train. The people in the compartment talked intermittently and Sirius managed to pick up most of it. He growled slightly when Peter told the woman Harry had been ill. What had Peter been doing to the poor kid?

Sirius, worried that someone would pass and see him, began looking for hiding places. Unfortunately it seemed he would have to trust to the dim lighting to hide him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peter felt his eye twitch as the student across from them once again glanced at him. He didn't know if it was his own nervousness, but he had a feeling she wasn't just curious. At least her inane comments had ceased.

As the train stopped completely he stood, desperate to get away from the prying girl. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet, needing no prompting after last night and yesterday.

"No luggage?" the student asked, placing her laptop back in its case.

"No," Peter snapped. Really, why did she need to be so inquisitive? It was grating on his last nerve.

Harry was frowning. "Your accent changed," he said in bewilderment.

Peter gaped for a moment as the girl changed from innocent student to well trained Auror. Her wand was out and pointed at him before he could react. "Harry, come to me," she said, her eyes not leaving Peter's face. The boy was right, she now spoke with a distinctive cockney accent.

Harry hesitated. "Who are you?" Clearly the boy was unsure whether he could trust her or not.

"I'm Tonks, an Auror," she said, her gaze unwavering. "Please, come here."

The boy's face cleared and he stepped towards her. Her eyes flickered slightly in relief, but before Harry could take a second step Peter lunged and grabbed him, using him as a shield against the Auror.

"Let him go," she ordered, her voice not half as calm as it had been.

"I'll kill him," Peter said desperately. "I swear I will."

"Just stay calm," Tonks said slowly. "If you let him go now I'll put in a good word for you at your trial."

The wand dug into Harry's cheek sharply.

"Where's Black?" Tonks asked gently. "Are you working with him? Or did he force you?"

She was giving him a way out, Peter thought harshly. She was saying he could tell her Sirius forced him into this and he might even get away with it. Of course that would only last until Harry was safe and then the questions would start, ones he couldn't answer.

"Drop your wand," Peter hissed, "Or I'll kill him."

Tonks stared.

"Do it," Peter yelled.

Tonks' wand clattered to the floor.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sirius listened to the altercation with dread. He desperately wanted to run in there, but Peter was too close to Harry. Not only that but the Auror clearly thought he and Peter were working together and he would have to transform in order to open the door. He might get arrested and then no one would be able to save Harry.

She'd said her name was Tonks. Andromeda had married a man named Tonks hadn't she? And they'd had a daughter – Nymphadora. She was seven when Sirius had been sent to Azkaban, she'd be about nineteen now, maybe twenty. She must have gone straight from Hogwarts to Auror training. Wow, she must be really good if she was already on assignments like this.

He listened fearfully as Peter cast some spells, a stunner and a binding spell. Moments later the door opened and Harry was pushed out, with Peter following closely. Sirius backed as far into the corner as he could get, Peter would be on high alert until he got far away from here. He watched them as they walked down the corridor.

Once they had passed out of sight Sirius stood and began to follow. He paused outside the compartment door. It would do him no good to revive the girl, even if she was family. Let the Auror's retrieve her. Without sparing her another thought he loped down the corridor, promising himself that tonight was the night he saved Harry.

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A/N: Before you start yelling at me, I know there isn't that sort of passenger train running through the channel tunnel. Call it an artistic license. Truthfully I just couldn't get the scene to work any other way. I also know that the Tunnel wasn't opened until May 1994 and this story takes place earlier that same year so really they shouldn't have been able to travel that way anyway, but I wanted them to. So there.

Merry Christmas everybody and a happy new year!

Nat.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Albus was brooding. It was not a common occurrence, but today he could not avoid it. Harry Potter had grown up resented by the people who were supposed to love him and it was he, Albus, who had placed him there. Not only that, but now Harry was at the mercy of Sirius Black, if he was even still alive and that, too, was Albus' fault.

As he sat there, brooding, Fawkes appeared with a burst of light and song. Albus felt his mood lift slightly.

"Fawkes, my friend, it is good that you are back. Any news of Harry?"

Fawkes eyed him beadily and sang some reassuring notes.

"Yet I see you did not bring him back with you," Albus commented.

Fawkes merely lifted one wing and stuck his head under it.

Albus chuckled despite the gravity of the situation. Fawkes was clearly not worried, which meant that Harry was alright, or soon would be.

"Something amusing, Albus?" The voice shocked him out of his reverie and he turned quickly to the fireplace where a familiar head was looking at him.

"Amelia, it seems my familiar is ignoring me, at present. He has always been a wilful bird."

"I see." Amelia apparently did not find it half as amusing as Albus did. "I have come here on a matter of some urgency, I'm afraid. Would you please come to the Ministry immediately? It is about Harry Potter."

Albus felt himself relax a little. So this was why Fawkes was so unperturbed. The Ministry had recovered Harry. "Yes, of course my dear."

Amelia's head disappeared. She had always been a woman of few words.

Albus retrieved his jar of Floo powder from the mantle and took a handful. Throwing it into the fire he announced, "Amelia Bones' office, Ministry of Magic." As the fire turned green he stepped in and felt the familiar sensation of being tickled by the flames.

He appeared in Amelia's office, stepping out of the fire gracefully. A quick glance about the room showed him that Harry was nowhere in sight. Amelia sat behind the desk opposite a young woman Albus recognised as Nymphadora Tonks, a new Auror who had graduated from Hogwarts almost two years ago.

"Ah, Nymphadora, what a pleasant surprise," Albus said jovially.

The young woman flinched at the name, but said nothing. She looked downcast and did not meet his gaze.

"I have just heard Auror Tonks' report, Albus and felt you should be apprised of the situation yourself," Amelia told him.

"What situation is that?" Albus asked. It didn't sound as though they'd found Harry after all.

"As you know all the Aurors that we can spare have been pulled off regular duty to help in the search for Harry Potter," Amelia began. "Normally Auror Tonks would still be in training, but her unique abilities make her invaluable for stakeouts as she can regularly change her appearance to avoid being spotted. It was for this reason that she was stationed to watch the entrance to the Channel Tunnel as we suspected it was likely that Sirius Black would take Harry out of the country. He has no wand as far as we are aware, unless he is using Harry's own, and therefore must resort to muggle means of travel." Amelia looked to young Nymphadora then. "If you would please continue, Auror Tonks."

"Yes, Madame Bones," Tonks replied respectfully. "Professor Dumbledore, approximately six hours ago, at ten in the morning, I was fortunate enough to glimpse Harry Potter at the station. He was accompanied by a small man with grey hair, at least what was left of it."

"Polyjuice?" Albus asked curiously.

Nymphadora glanced at Amelia who nodded. "I doubt it, sir. If it was it stands to reason that he would also use it on Harry. He _is_ rather recognisable and the whole world is looking for him right now. Besides, how would he have gotten it? I think it more likely that he was either an accomplice of some kind and Black was somewhere nearby, or perhaps…"

"Perhaps what Auror Tonks?" Amelia asked curiously.

"We're assuming it was Black that took Harry," Nymphadora said slowly. "I know it makes sense, he has the motive and we know he was able to get in the tower once before and with his history it's a reasonable assumption to make, but I know there was no one else in that compartment."

"You're suggesting Black had nothing to do with this," Amelia stated.

"I'm suggesting that maybe we don't know all the facts," Nymphadora said.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Albus asked the young woman. He didn't want to make any judgements until he knew what had occurred.

"I watched the small man use the Imperious curse to gain entry to the train and then followed him to a compartment. I pretended to be a French student on her way home and sat with them for the duration of the journey, hoping to get some idea of who the man was. He told me that Harry was his son and he was going on a business trip.

"By that time I'd had the chance to get a good look at both of them and I'd noticed that the stranger was very nervous about something and seemed to be holding something in his pocket, presumably his wand. Harry was pale and shaking. I don't know what was wrong with him, exactly, but I think it's fair to say that he's not had a great time over the last few days. He also had a rather nasty bruise on his jaw."

Albus felt his teeth clench. Poor Harry, he was such an innocent child. He didn't deserve such treatment.

"Things went smoothly until we arrived in France," Nymphadora continued. "As we were disembarking I asked them something and didn't realise that I'd forgotten the accent. The stranger didn't seem to notice, but Harry did. I pulled out my wand as soon as I realised I'd been rumbled and tried to get Harry to come to me. At first he didn't know whether or not to trust me so I told him who I was and he started to come to me.

"Before he'd taken two steps the stranger had grabbed him and had his wand pointed at Harry's cheek. He threatened to kill Harry if I didn't drop my wand. I tried reasoning with him, but…" She sniffed suddenly, reminding Albus of how very young she was. "I didn't know what to do," she admitted painfully. "I dropped my wand. He stunned me and tied me up. By the time my partner revived me they were long gone."

"There, there, Auror Tonks," Amelia, while trying to appear comforting had a very stern tone of voice that was anything but. "You did what you thought best under the circumstances. It may not have turned out as you had hoped, but that is not your fault."

Nymphadora snuffled into a handkerchief. "I just can't help thinking that if I'd done something differently he'd be here right now," she said brokenly.

"I shouldn't have to remind you that you are still a trainee Auror," Amelia said. "It is only your morphing ability that convinced us to put you on such a difficult case. I assure you many seasoned Aurors would have made the same decisions you did."

Nymphadora wiped her nose. "Thank you, Madame Bones. I'll just go and write up my official report now."

Amelia nodded and Nymphadora left.

"Thank you for making me aware of this, Amelia," Albus said gratefully. "It will allow me to concentrate my own search in France."

"I'm only sorry it wasn't better news," Amelia said sadly as a memo flew under the door and landed on her desk. She opened it and scanned the contents. "Oh dear," she said after a moment. "Albus, I wonder if I could take up a bit more of your time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albus and Amelia apparated to an unused alley. Both of them were wearing muggle clothes and Albus had charmed his hair and beard so they appeared much shorter than they really were.

Together they exited the alley and walked for perhaps five minutes until they reached their destination. Amelia knocked on the door and they waited.

A moment later the door was opened by a young woman with short cropped hair. "Hello." She seemed hesitant.

"Hello, my dear," Albus greeted her warmly. "We're here to ask you some questions about what happened earlier. May we come in?"

"Are you the police?" She eyed them uncertainly.

Amelia flashed a badge at her quickly enough that she would be unable to read the words upon it. The young woman ushered them in.

They walked through a waiting room into a rather small office. On the wall were various certificates showing the woman, Janet Worner, was a qualified veterinary surgeon.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked wringing her hands.

"No, thank you," Amelia said briskly, taking a seat. Albus shook his head negatively.

"I already spoke to some policemen earlier. I don't know what else I can tell you."

"Start from the beginning," Albus said gently.

"I was treating a stray dog," she started. "He had a broken foreleg and possibly other injuries. I assumed he'd been hit by a car. I was just preparing to send him down for some x-rays when I turned around and there he was." There was no need to say exactly who _he_ was.

Amelia frowned. "Where did he come from?"

"I don't know," Janet replied evasively.

She was lying, Albus knew even without using legilimency. Why would she lie, unless…

"Amelia," he said jovially. "I believe this may go more smoothly if I were allowed to speak to Miss Worner alone."

Amelia looked at him sharply. Something in his eyes must have convinced her to trust him, because she nodded and left.

Janet Worner stared at him worriedly so he gave her his most charming smile to put her at ease. For some reason it didn't seem to work.

"Tell me, Miss Worner, the dog you were treating, did it disappear around the same time you first saw Sirius Black?"

She gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. "How did you…?"

"You will find that I will believe almost anything, Miss Worner. I might even believe you if you were to tell me that Sirius Black _was_ the dog."

"You know," she said breathily.

Albus merely nodded his reply.

"He was brought in by an elderly woman," she said quickly, as though desperate to say it to someone who wouldn't think her mad. "Her name was Marsha Cromwell. She said she found him, knocked out on the street and brought him here."

"Which street?" Albus asked urgently.

"Um… Charing Cross Road, I think." 

He was trying to get to the Leaky Cauldron, but something happened before he got there. What could it be?

"She offered to pay for any treatment the dog needed. I think she was lonely, she was going to call him Mr Tiddles."

Albus had to stop himself from snorting at that. The notorious Sirius Black, mass murderer, named Mr Tiddles? Just wait until he told Minerva.

"As I said before, I was getting a sedative and I turned back to the dog, but it was gone and Sirius Black was sitting on the table, holding his arm. I panicked a little, partly because it was Sirius Black and partly because a dog had just turned into a human. He told me to wrap his arm up, so I did. I didn't know what else I could do. Then he told me to lead him outside and turned back into a dog. Once he was out he ran."

Albus nodded. "Did he at any time threaten you?"

Janet shook her head. "That's the strange part; he didn't. The worst he did was warn me not to do something stupid, like cause a scene and he made a sarcastic comment about me telling the police about him changing into a dog."

"I see." Sirius' behaviour was most curious, Albus decided. Once Harry was safe and they had him back in custody Albus would have to have a long talk with the man. "What time was this?"

"She was the first one in this morning," Janet said. "No later than half past nine."

"Thank you." That meant that it was extremely unlikely that he had been on the train with Harry and the stranger. Could Nymphadora be right? Maybe he wasn't the one that kidnapped Harry. "I have only one more question," he said after a moment. "Have you told anyone else any of this?"

"No," she said emphatically. "Who would believe me? They'd think I was crazy. I actually think I'm crazy right now."

"Good." Albus withdrew his wand and pointed it at her. "_Obliviate_," he said quietly. He was rather skilled at memory modification and found it easy to adjust her one of that morning to what she'd told the police, just in case they came back to ask her more questions. "Thank you for your time, my dear," he said courteously, before sweeping from the room.

Amelia was waiting for him outside. "Well, did you learn anything?"

"This morning, not long before Harry was spotted on the Channel Train, Sirius Black broke into this surgery and forced Miss White to attend to a broken arm. Once she had done so he fled." Albus said succinctly. He didn't want to tell Amelia that Sirius was an illegal animagus just yet, not until he knew just how guilty the man was.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They'd spent hours wandering through the streets of whatever French town they had finally reached. Harry neither knew, nor particularly cared where they were right now. He was so exhausted his muddled brain was barely coherent, but Wormtail was adamant that they needed to lose any Aurors following them. So Harry had been forced to follow Wormtail for hour after hour, through town and countryside, stumbling more frequently as time passed until eventually he felt he could go no further.

Wormtail had apparently come to the same conclusion. He used Harry's wand to open the door of a house that looked to be for sale and pushed Harry in.

Harry hit the floor face first, his arms coming forward too slowly to catch him. Wormtail secured the door then grabbed Harry by his collar and forced him up, half leading and half dragging him into the next room. Harry screwed up his face against the pain from his ribs.

There was no furniture, but the floors were carpeted, much to Harry's relief when Wormtail let him go and his legs were unable to hold his weight. He didn't move, what was the point? He felt his left arm yanked back and winced as the movement caused his ribs to shift slightly. The cuff was reattached to his wrist and the other end pushed through the grille of the gas fireplace. Harry remained still and unresponsive as Wormtail stomped away. A minute later he heard the toilet flush.

By the time Wormtail returned Harry was fast asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sirius had followed Harry and Peter as closely as he dared while they exited the station, not wanting to lose them in the throng of passengers. He'd tripped a few people up because he was so focused on the two small figures he was stalking that he hadn't been watching where he was going.

Once they had left the station Sirius was able to increase the gap between them significantly. Few of the people on the train left the station on foot and Peter had chosen a direction in which no one else was headed, making it all the easier for Sirius to track them on scent alone, allowing them a much bigger lead. He wanted to attack on his terms, not when Peter was almost dragging his obviously wounded and exhausted godson along by one elbow.

Soon they left the small village behind and began hiking across country that was nearly entirely uninhabited. Sirius knew he couldn't risk Peter glancing back and seeing him. His old friend would recognise him instantly and might do something stupid. So he was forced to allow them even more of a lead. Fortunately it wasn't raining, so their scent would remain long enough for him to follow.

It was well into the night by the time he reached the small nameless French town. Sirius had been forced to slow more and more as time went on and as Harry found it harder to struggle forward.

He followed his nose right to the door of a small house that had a sign over the door. He couldn't read what was on it, but it looked a lot like the signs muggles put over their houses when they wanted to sell them.

The street was quiet as Sirius crept over to the window. He used all his senses to ensure he wasn't being watched before he reared back onto his hind legs and propped his good paw onto the window sill.

The window was grimy, but not obscured with curtains. Through it Sirius could see a bed piled high with blankets, most likely conjured. At first glance the bed was empty, but Sirius knew Peter better than anyone and knew how comforting it was for an animagus to sleep in their alternate form, especially one like Peter who had used that form so much.

Sirius' eyes scoured the room for another figure and his heart clenched at what he saw. Curled up in a foetal position on the floor, without a single blanket, was Harry. One of his arms was hanging from a small chain connected to the fireplace, one of the weird muggle style fireplaces that didn't use wood to fuel them.

Sirius knew this was his perfect chance. He could capture Peter while he was asleep, take his wand and return Harry to safety. If Peter happened to get beaten to a pulp before dying a horribly painful death, well, Sirius was supposed to be a murderer and insane to boot, no one would be surprised and Sirius had been waiting for this moment for a _very_ long time.

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CRASH!

Harry awoke instantly, startled by the loud noise so close by. Slowly, to avoid jostling his injuries, he turned to look in the direction the sound had come from.

It seemed Wormtail had conjured himself a bed to sleep on, but hadn't the power to make it last through the night. Some posts remained, standing upright, but the mattress and supports had vanished, letting the rat fall onto the floor. As Harry watched even the posts disappeared. Wormtail transformed back into a human, looking about as though he couldn't figure out what had happened.

Harry couldn't stop the snort that escaped him, no matter how hard he tried.

Wormtail pulled himself together and glared at Harry. "Do you think that's funny?" he hissed, pulling out Harry's wand.

Harry whimpered slightly. He knew what was coming.

"Crucio," Wormtail screeched happily and Harry succumbed to the pain, unable to distinguish what was caused by the curse and what was from his aggravated injuries. As he lost consciousness he could have sworn he heard glass shattering and saw a large black dog leap through the window and attack Wormtail.

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Sirius had been on the verge of a plan when he heard a loud crash and looked back through the window to see Peter transform back into his natural form – although Sirius would swear that the rat was actually Peter's true form. Had he been in his own human body he knew he would be laughing right now. Peter's conjurations had always been a joke in school, but then so had most of his spell work. He didn't understand that, unlike James and Sirius and to a lesser extent Remus, he _needed_ to practise to get better.

Peter seemed to take offence at something and pulled out a wand, cursing Harry. Sirius saw red as his godson curled up even tighter and screamed his soul out. Any semblance of a plan was forgotten and Sirius just reacted.

He would never recall exactly how he had broken the glass, maybe it was a bout of unrestrained accidental magic, but he knew without a doubt that the glass was gone as he sailed through the window and landed, with the crunching of glass on the carpeted floor within the house.

However he had gotten there he had achieved his true purpose; to distract Peter from Harry. The curse had been broken and Harry lay, trembling even in his unconsciousness, with fragments of glass sparkling on and around him.

Not wanting to allow Peter to get his bearings Sirius lunged for him, biting almost right through his arm and feeling the bone snap between his powerful jaws. The wand skittered to the floor.

Sirius transformed, his body between Harry and Peter, the wand at his feet.

They stood, staring at each other, both holding an arm protectively against their chests.

Peter fell to his knees, tears pouring down his face, knowing that his position was precarious at best. There was little chance of persuading Sirius he hadn't done anything wrong. Sirius knew, better than anyone, _everything_ that Peter had done.

Sirius stooped and picked up the wand in his good hand. It felt good, he realised, to hold one again, as if something that had been missing had been returned to him.

"Peter, you're going to burn in Hell," Sirius said menacingly.

"Sirius, old friend," Peter tried pathetically.

"Shut up, you traitor," Sirius snapped. "If that is how you treat friends, I'd hate to be your enemy."

Peter's eyes shifted about the room, desperate for an escape of some kind. _Classic Peter,_ Sirius thought,_ you always talk about what a brave Gryffindor you are, but the moment a situation crops up all you want to do is run away like the rat you are._

"Why?" Sirius asked him. "We were your friends, but you betrayed James and Lily as though they were nothing."

Peter muttered something.

"What?" Sirius asked dangerously, moving closer so that the wand he held between them came to rest directly between Peter's eyes.

Peter blubbered. "He made me do it, Padfoot. He made me. He's so powerful, he would have killed me. What was I supposed to do?"

"The same thing we would have done for you," Sirius said coldly. He should have known that Peter would make excuses once cornered; it was the way he'd always reacted at school when they'd been caught out by McGonagall.

"I'm not strong like you," Peter cried. "Please."

"It wasn't enough for you? You couldn't stop at getting two of your friends killed, framing me for murder and abandoning Remus to full moons alone? You had to go that one step further and drag Harry into this, too." Sirius' voice was full of loathing and he was just seconds away from doing something irreversible to the rat.

"He's just a boy," Peter said dismissively. "His life would have brought my freedom."

Peter knew instantly he had made a mistake. He threw his uninjured hand up to protect his face as Sirius lunged at him, foregoing magic for the much more satisfying purpose of beating the rat senseless.

There was no competition. While Peter had spent twelve years living the good life, being fed as much as he could get and sleeping more than half of each day away, fat and pampered and hardly ever even moving if he didn't feel like it, Sirius had been forced to relive every tortured memory he had, more then enough to build up a lot of resentment towards his _old friend._ Not only that, but since his escape from prison he'd had a lot more physical exercise than Peter, what with swimming ashore from the island Azkaban was on, to running half way across England and into Scotland in his dog form. All Peter could do was try to protect himself as much as possible as Sirius hit and kicked and spat upon every inch of the man who had destroyed his life. He ignored the pain in his bad arm as he used it to smack Peter across the face.

Peter's body went limp under him and it was a crazed moment before Sirius could stop his furious assault. He glared at the prone form and giving it one last kick for good measure, retrieved the wand on the floor.

Looking around at the carnage of the room, two bodies, one of which was a bloody mess and shards of glass everywhere, Sirius knew he had to get out of here. Muggle neighbours might have called the poleese when they heard the glass shatter and they hadn't exactly kept the noise of their fight down. Between Sirius' enraged howls and Peter's squeals of terror they had probably caused a fair bit of commotion. Unfortunately the other two people didn't look like they would be moving soon and he wasn't willing to leave Peter behind until he was good and punished for what he'd done. No, Sirius wanted answers most of all and revenge and neither could be attained quickly. He couldn't carry even someone as small as Harry with his arm the way it was and you can only levitate one person at a time. Of course, he couldn't even do that in a muggle area like this.

Sirius bent down and rifled through Peter's pockets. A money bag, about half filled with galleons – where'd he get that? – some large muggle clothes similar to what the two unconscious people were wearing, all shrunk of course and… no, it couldn't be… James' invisibility cloak!

A plan quickly came together in his head. Not waiting to think it through – that was never his strong suit anyway – he turned to Peter and cast an interesting spell he remembered from when they were learning to become animagi that forced someone into their alternate form. If Peter had been awake he would have been screaming as his bones shrunk and changed shape out of his control.

That done Sirius scooped up the battered old rat and shoved it in a pocket. He re-shrunk the clothes and stuffed them in, too, not caring if Peter suffocated under all that. The money bag went in last of all.

Now for Harry. Gently as he could he levitated his small godson, luxuriating in the magic flowing so easily through him, just as it used to and draped the invisibility cloak over him. Healing Harry's injuries would have to wait until they were far away from here and had the time to do it. Then he would explain everything before finally getting his answers and avenging James and Lily.

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A/N: I felt very inspired to write this chapter and just wanted to say thank you to those who reviewed. I hope you're all having a great new year so far.

As always, please let me know what you think, by way of a review, e-mail or even by joining my Yahoo! Group. The link is on my profile. If you want a reply the last two are the best ways to go about it.

Thanks for reading.

Nats.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

_Boy-Who-Lived in France._

Hermione almost choked on the piece of toast she was forcing herself to eat when she read the headline. "Ron!" she hissed.

He glanced up at her disinterestedly. He was taking Harry's disappearance even harder than Hermione was to the point he barely spoke to anyone but her. For some reason he'd gotten the idea in his head that he could somehow have prevented it, but Hermione knew that Sirius Black wouldn't be stopped by the likes of almost-fourteen-year-old Ronald Weasley.

She pushed the newspaper in front of him. "Look," she whispered, not wanting to become the centre of attention when everyone realised what was happening.

Ron skimmed the article. "Black took him to France," he said with an interest he hadn't even shown for Quidditch recently.

"Not only that," Hermione said, pointing to a particular paragraph. "Harry was spotted with another man, which means he's got an accompice. Do you remember Halloween, when the Fat Lady's portrait was slashed?"

Ron gaped at her. "Of course I remember that. Hard to forget isn't it?"

"But do you remember what we overheard? Between Snape and Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione was getting excited now, sure she was onto something.

"Just spit it out, will you," Ron said in annoyance.

"Snape said, 'It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help.' Don't you see. He was right. Someone from inside the school was helping him all along. He also said something about warning Professor Dumbledore not to appoint someone. That was his exact word: appoint. That means he suspected _a member of staff_ here. Oh!"

"What?" Ron said, beginning to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

"It has to be Professor Lupin. The only other new appointment is Hagrid and we know he would never... That's how Black got into the school, Lupin helped him."

Ron glanced up at the head table. "He's missing again today and he wasn't in class yesterday."

Hermione gestured emphatically at the paper. "That's because he was helping Black get Harry to France. Oh, but wait..."

"Now what?" Ron said in exasperation.

"Last night was... but maybe he's not as ill as he pretends to be around the..." Hermione was at a loss. She couldn't reveal what she suspected about Professor Lupin to Ron, just in case she was wrong and he was innocent. She had to speak to Dumbledore. Another look at the head table showed that he, too, was missing as he had been for several days. Professor McGonagall had told them he was out helping in the search. There was nothing else for it. If Lupin came back they would just have to watch for him doing anyhting suspicious. If he didn't come back then they would know for certain and Hermione could tell anyone she liked what he had done.

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Sirius tenderly mopped the sweat from Harry's forehead. He'd managed to mend the bones both in his arm and Harry's ribs, but he was no Madame Pomfrey and he knew it wasn't a good job. There would be a lot of residual soreness and he had no idea how to fix the bruises he could see on Harry's jaw and neck. They would have to wait until a proper healer could look him over. Even in his unconsciousness Harry shivered from the after effects of the Cruciatus.

Peter was still in one of his robe pockets, maybe being suffocated by all the shrunken clothes piled on top of him, but as Sirius looked upon the agonised face of his godson he couldn't bring himself to care. Peter had a lot to answer for. His only concern right now, besides Harry, was making sure Peter _did_ answer for it. Absently, his gaze never leaving his contemplation of Harry, he conjured a steel cage. He plunged one hand into the robe pocket, unceremoniously pulling the rat out by it's tail, a few articles of clothing sticking to it, and dumped it inside. He used the most complicated charms he could remember to make sure Peter couldn't get out, even if he transformed.

He was starting to worry about what he was going to say to Harry when he awoke. Whatever it was it would have to be convincing and totally honest, the last thing Hary needed right now was someone lying to him, which meant he would have to touch on some sensitive topics. Sirius squared his shoulders. He could do it and would, for Harry and... oh no! Harry was stirring.

Sirius panicked and transformed. His dog form had become his retreat, his way of hiding from the world and he used it now without thinking.

Harry whimpered slightly as he awoke, as though he was expecting to feel the Cruciatus once again. His eyes fluttered open, revealing the bright green that was so achingly familiar and he groaned. His head rolled first to one side and then the other before he drew in a deep breath and pushed himself into a sitting position.

His sleep filled eyes found Sirius and he gasped. His head whipped around, looking for Peter, but didn't find him. He looked at Sirius once more. "Are you the dog I found in London?"

Sirius found it amusing that Harry was talking to a dog, even though he _was_ that dog. He nodded his head hugely, a strange gesture on a canine, but it got his point across.

"How did you get here?" Harry murmured, reaching out a hand to stroke Sirius' fur covered neck. "It's miles and miles away." Even as he petted Sirius' head his eyes were darting about for any sign of his captor. He was nervous, Sirius could practically smell it on him, he would need reassurance.

"Do you know where Wormtail is?" Harry asked suddenly. Of course, Sirius couldn't answer in his present form. "He doesn't normally leave me alone for long. Do you think we can get out of here before he comes back?" Harry shook his head. "Why am I talking to a dog?"

Sirius couldn't help the snorty sound that left his nose. Had he really only just noticed that?

"Think that's funny do you?" Harry asked. He tried to stand up, stumbled on the first attempt and then tried again. This time he made it to his feet. Sirius stayed as close as possible in case he fell.

"I guess you're coming with me," Harry murmured. "That's good, I could use the company. I should tell you, I have no idea how I'm going to get back to England."

Sirius licked his hand, trying to comfort him. He hoped Harry wasn't really going to try and leave right now. He probably wouldn't make it outside of the barn they were hiding in.

Harry took a few tottering steps before he faltered and glanced at Sirius. He sank back to his knees. "I'm so tired," he said. "What the Hell was that curse he used on me?"

Sirius could have told him if he'd been human, instead he settled for nudging Harry's shoulder with his nose, trying to tell him to lie back down in the hay.

"I can't," Harry said pathetically. "I've got to... Wait!" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Back in London, Wormtail called you Padfoot. Like on the Marauder's Map. Are you an animagus too? Are you working with him? Who are you?"

Harry's voice was rising with each progressive question and Sirius knew he would need to answer him now before he got hysterical or panicked. He transformed back into his human body, staring at his godson apprehensively.

Harry's eyes went impossibly wide. "No way."

"Harry," Sirius said softly, stepping back to give Harry some space. "Please don't be scared. I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't?" Harry said, his voice going high with approaching hysteria.

"Oh, I could never, never hurt you," Sirius said emphatically. "I gave your parents my word I would always protect you."

Harry dropped back into the hay. It seemed that had startled him enough to calm him down slightly.

"There are some things you need to know," Sirius said gently. "And then I'm going to make sure you get back to school and that Peter is punished for hurting you."

Harry looked up at him, his expressive green eyes innocent and confused. "Peter. Is that his real name?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius confirmed, waving one hand at the cage in the corner. "Wormtail. The rat."

Harry blinked and his eyes followed Sirius' hand. "Peter Pettigrew is dead. _You_ killed him," he said in a hard voice.

"I only wish that I had," Sirius said. "It would have saved you so much pain."

Harry scrubbed at his face with both hands. "I don't understand," he admitted.

Sirius reached out one hand. "I'm going to sit down," he said, not wanting to startle Harry by moving too quickly. "I promise you I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

Harry studied him intently before nodding his acceptance. "I overheard the Minister and the Professors talking," he said slowly. "They said Pettigrew tracked you down and you blew up the street, killing him and twelve muggles."

"That's the story," Sirius agreed. "What else did they say?"

"That you were working for Voldemort," Harry told him, impressing Sirius by using the name. "That you were my parents secret keeper and you betrayed them." Harry seemed to be having a hard time reconciling the image of the man who was responsible for his parents death with the Sirius Black who sat before him, having possibly saved his life.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"How could you do it?" Harry demanded, his voice rising again. "They were your friends and you just gave them up as if they didn't mean _anything_."

Sirius said nothing. He couldn't deny it. In a way that was exactly what he had done. He'd turned their safety over to Peter, the weakest one of the group.

"Do you know what I hear when the Dementors come near me?" Harry asked, his voice nearly breaking. "I hear mum screaming for him to kill her instead of me and I hear her die. AND THAT'S YOUR FAULT!"

"I don't deny that it is," Sirius said quietly, near tears himself. How could Harry remember that? Was that the only memory he had of Lily? "But not in the way that you think."

"YOU AS GOOD AS KILLED THEM YOURSELF." Harry gasped suddenly, one hand flying to his recently repaired ribs.

Sirius was by his side in an instant. "Breathe slowly," he said, placing one hand over Harry's. "My healing spells have never really been up to par, that was always Moony's forte. I did the best I could, but those ribs will still be a little tender. It should tide you over until we can get you back to Hogwarts. In the meantime take it easy, all that shouting probably didn't do you any favours."

Harry was staring at him through confused and suspicious eyes. "Why do you care?" he said through clenched teeth.

Sirius dropped his hand and backed off a little to give Harry some space, suddenly remembering that Harry was still just a scared thirteen year old at the mercy of someone he thought to be a murderer.

"Please, Harry. You have every right to be angry with me, but you don't know all the facts. Will you let me explain?"

Harry narrowed his eyes thoughtfully while Sirius waited with bated breath. Finally he nodded.

Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Thank you." He leaned back slightly in the hay, resting his weight on his arms in a relaxed position, more to put Harry at ease than from any comfort he himself derived from it. A thought occurred to him and he dragged the wand out of his pocket and threw it at Harry's feet. Startled green eyes glanced up at him and Sirius knew he'd won points with that gesture.

"Yours, I suppose. Peter's was left on the street the day I supposedly killed him. You hang on to it until you decide if I'm trustworthy or not."

Harry grasped the wand tightly, not pointing it at Sirius, but not putting it away either.

"We switched," Sirius began. "I was supposed to be your parents secret keeper, but I convinced James to switch to Peter. I was the obvious target and I knew Voldemort would send his Death Eaters after me. I thought that I could be the decoy, they would chase after me, leaving Peter perfectly safe and even if they caught me I couldn't give up the secret. It seemed like the perfect plan.

"We'd known there was a spy amongst us. I thought it was Moony, almost had Prongs convinced as well, but not Lily. Your mother was so sure he'd never betray us. We should have listened to her. If we had we could have used him as the secret keeper and all this never would have happened." Sirius glanced up to see that Harry was hanging on his every word. "We should have known it was Peter, he always was the weak link."

"That Halloween I had a feeling something was wrong so I went to check on Wormtail. He was gone, no sign of a struggle and I knew, I just knew that we'd been had. I went straight to Godric's Hollow, where your parents lived, but I was too late. Voldemort had already killed them. Hagrid was there, had just pulled you out of the ruins and I tried to get him to give you to me, but he insisted Dumbledore had ordered him not to. Maybe if he had just trusted me I wouldn't have done the most idiotic thing I could think of." Sirius trailed off. His mind was stuck on that night twelve years ago, feeling the same anguish as if it had happened only yesterday and the same burning need for revenge.

"What did you do?" Harry asked tentatively and Sirius realised that he hadn't spoken for several minutes. He drew in a deep breath. Now was not the time to break down.

"I went after Peter," he said simply. "It took me a couple of days, but I finally tracked him down on a muggle street. He started shouting about how _I _had betrayed Lily and James and then weak little Peter surprised me. He blew up the street with the wand behind his back and transformed. Cut off his own finger and left it behind with his wand while he disappeared down a sewer.

"I lost it at that point. Not really sure what happened next until they threw me in with the Dementors. I do know for certain that I never had a trial, never had a chance to tell then what really happened. Voldemort had just been defeated and everyone wanted it over with. I was a reminder of darker times, so they just locked me away."

He waved a hand over to the cage that still housed an unconscious rat. "Peter insinuated himself in with the Weasley family, perfectly situated to hear even the slightest rumour about Voldemort. He must have been so happy when you ended up in the same dormitory as one of their kids and then he must have panicked after I got in and woke up that boy which is when he decided to take you."

Harry nodded, having already figured out that last part himself. "How did you escape?"

"My animagus form, allowed me to stay sane in Azkaban. I probably could have escaped earlier, but I didn't see the point. As far as I knew you were safe and well and part of me felt that I deserved the punishment for getting my best friend killed. It wasn't until I saw that newspaper article with the Weasley family that I knew I had to escape."

"Why?" All Harry's nervousness seemed forgotten now as he was swept up in the story.

"Wormtail was there sitting on your friends shoulder. I recognised him well enough from all the times I'd seen him transform and he was missing a toe. The article said he was at Hogwarts, where you were and I... I couldn't let him hurt you.

"I was thin enough to slip through the bars as a dog and then it was a simple case of swimming to shore and running up country. I made one stop. I wanted to see you."

"That was _you_," Harry breathed.

Sirius grinned. "Quite a ruckus you caused that night," he said approvingly. "Blowing your aunt up. Don't think we ever tried anything like that."

"We? The Marauders?"

"Yeah," Sirius let his mind drift back to happier times. "Hey, how do you know about that? Did Moony tell you?"

Harry shook his head. "I've got the map._ He_ told me to call him Wormtail and I recognised the name and he called you Padfoot. I don't know who Prongs and Moony are though."

"Your Dad was Prongs, turned into a huge stag when he transformed."

"My Dad was an animagus? Really?" Harry seemed keen to hear anything about his parents.

"Oh yeah! He was the first of us to work it out actually. James was _amazing_ at Transfiguration." Sirius stopped himself from saying anything more in favour of studying Harry. "You believe me."

Harry half smiled at him. "I don't know why, but even when you were a dog I just felt like I could trust you and, well, what you told me, it makes sense, so yes, I believe you."

Sirius worked his way through that stumbling sentence and grinned. "I'm glad, kiddo."

Harry's answering grin was blinding. "So what about Moony? What kind of creature gets _that _nickname?"

"Actually Moony's the only non-animagus Marauder," Sirius replied, not sure how much he should say. Oh well, he wasn't about to start holding things back now. "He's a werewolf."

"Oh." Harry didn't seem too perturbed by that which Sirius took as a good sign. He probably wasn't as concerned as he would have been if he'd been raised by wizards.

"His name is Remus."

Harry's eyes flew wide open. "You mean Remus Lupin? Our Defense teacher? He was a _Marauder_?"

Sirius laughed, a barking noise reminiscent of his other form. "Yup. He's the respectable one. I can't believe one of us turned out t be so... responsible." Sirius said the last word with a shudder.

"So why did you become animaguses," he asked avidly.

"At the risk of sounding professorial myself, it's animagi." Sirius settled back to tell his godson a tale about three boys who broke every rule they could think of to be able to help out their friend, who just happened to be a werewolf. By the time he had finished Harry had drifted off to sleep.

Sirius smiled. For the first time in twelve years he felt happy. He took the wand from the ground where Harry had left it and conjured a thick blanket which he placed over the sleeping boy and then tucked the wand back in Harry's hand. Still smiling he leaned against the wall and watched Harry sleep. He knew the situation could never last, but for now he was content.

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When Harry awoke the first thing he was aware of was the smell of hay in his nostrils. He lay there, feeling warm and almost comfortable for the first time since the previous Friday when he'd been taken from Gryffindor tower. How long ago had that been now? They'd spent the first day hiding in that shack near Hogwarts and that night they'd slept in the hotel. So it was Sunday morning he'd run away from Wormtail – Peter – and seen Sirius for the first time. The rest of Sunday they'd been in the warehouse while Wormtail used that curse on him for the first time. So that meant that yesterday must have been Monday, the day he'd been rescued by the man he thought wanted to kill him after traversing the channel and so today was Tuesday, the day his life changed forever, for it was in the early hours of this morning that Sirius had told him everything.

He'd been gone for over three days! Ron and Hermione were probably going crazy with worry. Somehow he doubted they'd be getting back today, but he knew the jouney must begin soon, Sirius had promised he'd get him back as soon as possible.

Harry held on to his ribs as he sat up, hoping to alleviate the pain he still felt. He smiled slightly. Sirius was propped up against the wall, his chest rising and falling gently as he slept. Harry wondered at how he could feel so safe with a man whom he believed was out to get him just a day before. He took the opportunity to really _look _at Sirius and came to the conclusion that the man was exhausted. He'd probably been very handsome as a boy, but years in prison and being exposed to Dementors had left his face looking wasted and worn out. His black hair was lank and matted through lack of care and his frame was far too skinny to be healthy.

Well that would change, Harry decided. Fudge had said that Sirius was his godfather, although dogfather might be more appropriate and that meant that if Sirius wanted they could live together. Harry was a fairly good cook, he'd soon get Sirius fattened up although that thought made him sound like Mrs Weasley. Sirius would be happy.

Unless Sirius would be happier without him. Harry was assuming an awful lot, what if Sirius just wanted to get back to the life he'd had before Azkaban? Harry couldn't blame him, after all he'd never asked to be lumped with a teenager.

Harry's worried thoughts were interrupted by Sirius yawning widely and stretching. "Morning kiddo," he said in a tired voice.

"Morning," Harry said in a falsely bright voice, not allowing himself to speak aloud the doubts he was now having.

"What's a matter?" Sirius said groggily. "You in pain?"

Harry shook his head. "Not too much."

"Good. We've got a bit of a trip ahead of us."

Harry looked down into his lap and started playing with the hem of his shirt. He wanted to ask Sirius if they would live together, but was too scared of the answer. "What's the plan?"

"We can't go back through the tunnel," Sirius said thoughtfully. "They probably won't be watching it anymore, but it's pretty hard to sneak in and we don't have any muggle currency and I refuse to use the Imperious curse."

"Is that the one that Wormtail used to make people do what he wanted?"

Sirius nodded.

"Why didn't he just use it on me?" Harry asked. That had been bothering him ever since he'd worked out what the curse did.

"Peter's never been very powerful," Sirius told him. "And power's a key point to that kind of curse. He could make it work on muggles, but I'd bet he couldn't control a wizard, especially one who's stronger than him."

"But I'm not-"

"If your parents are anything to go by you are," Sirius said. "And from what I've seen they'd be right proud of you."

Harry blushed and went back to playing with his shirt hem.

"How about a ferry ride?" Sirius asked him.

Harry looked up, excitement shining through his eyes. "You mean, like, on the ocean?" He'd never seen the ocean before.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned, picking up on his enthusiasm for the idea. "It's be fairly easy for a dog to sneak on, especially if I use a notice me not charm and you can hide under the invisibility cloak. It's way better than sitting on a stuffy old train."

Harry laughed. "That sounds amazing."

"You'll have to carry Peter." Sirius' eyes lit up. "You know, he's terrified of water. We could drop him over the side."

Harry froze. "Don't you need him alive? I mean, if you're going to prove you're innocent you'll need proof."

Sirius rested his chin on his hand and studied Harry. "I think it's too late for that. Maybe if Peter had left you alone things would have worked out differently, but they're not about to give me a chance to tell them it wasn't me. They'll shoot first and stuff me in Azkaban, if I even make it that far. I expect I'll just get the kiss."

Harry shuddered. "What if we could make them listen?"

Sirius sighed. "I wish we could, but from what I've been reading in the papers I think Fudge would rather sweep this whole thing under the rug rather than admit his precious Ministry made a mistake all those years ago."

"So you'll drop me off at Hogwarts and just go? We'll never see each other again." Harry tried not to look thouroughly dejected.

"We can write to each other," Sirius promised, with an attempt to appear upbeat. "And who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."

Harry looked away. "They said you were my godfather. I guess I thought that..." Harry found he couldn't finsh that sentence.

"Harry, look at me," Sirius said firmly, forcing Harry's gaze back to him. "There is nothing I want more than to have you live with me. If I could think of a way..."

"It's alright," Harry said hurriedly. "I understand." This is what you got for getting your hopes up. After years of the Dursleys throwing those hopes back in his face Harry thought he should be used to it by now, but it still hurt.

Sirius didn't apear to know what to say. "We should make a start," he said finally. "We've got a way to go and I don't want to push you too hard when you're not at full strength."

"I'm OK," Harry insisted and stood up as if to prove it. "Much better than earlier."

"Great." As Sirius stood he grabbed the nearby cage and passed it to Harry. He quickly threw the invisibility cloak over him. That way all anyone looking for Harry would see was a stray dog. He transformed easily and led the way out of the barn.

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A/N: Well there you go, chapter 8. The first scene contains a direct quote from POA and most of you will be familiar with a lot of what Sirius told Harry.

I added the paragraph where Harry works out how long he's been away from Hogwarts because it was starting to confuse _me_ and I'm writing it so I wanted to clarify that.

Hope you enjoyed it. As always please review and let me know what you think.

Anyone wishing to join my Yahoo! Group can do so by clicking the link on my profile.

Nats.

P.S. Two chapters to go!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.

Two nights later Harry and Sirius were back in London. Harry was very aware of the fact that he'd been missing for nearly six days now, almost a week. Sirius had managed to steal a paper on their arrival in London which confirmed what they had already guessed: the muggles had been informed of Harry's kidnapping and France was being scoured for the two of them. Fortunately no one had guessed that they would return to England so soon after leaving.

Their hike to Calais where they caught the ferry took most of the two days. Sirius had not wanted to aggravate Harry's condition by hurrying him so they had gone slowly and rested often, which suited Harry just fine as it gave him plenty of time to think.

They had arrived in Calais that morning – Thursday – but Sirius had insisted on lying low until early evening when the ferries were at their busiest so that they could blend into the crowd. By this point Harry was starting to suspect that Sirius was dragging things out so that they could spend more time together.

With that in mind Harry had suggested they go straight to Diagon Alley and floo back to school, but Sirius had pointed out to him that as soon as he was spotted in the Leaky Cauldron he would be swept up in a media circus and that it would be easier on Harry if they went directly to Hogwarts using the Knight Bus the next morning. By this time Harry was certain that his godfather was procrastinating, but he didn't mind one bit. He was coming to enjoy Sirius' company, finding the man to have a wicked sense of humour and a wealth of amusing anecdotes about his days in school with James Potter and Remus Lupin. Any mention of Peter Pettigrew, the rat that Harry carried under his cloak, was stricken from the conversation as neither really wanted to even think about him.

As a dog Sirius led the way to what he called his family home. It was in the seedy part of London and looked slightly rundown.

Sirius transformed and held out his hand for the wand. He had insisted Harry carry it in case they were caught. A wand wouldn't be much good to a dog, but it made Harry feel a lot safer. He whispered the unlocking charm and ushered Harry inside.

"I hate this place," he said miserably, pointing Harry in the direction of the kitchen. "But we should be alright here for one night. Good thing the Aurors think we're in France or they'd be staking this place out."

"You're sure they're not?" Harry asked nervously. The last thing he wanted was for Aurors to come smashing in here to arrest his godfather.

"I checked first," Sirius assured him.

His fears lain to rest, Harry looked around the imposing kitchen. It seemed very dark and a thick layer of dust coated everything. Compared to Aunt Petunia's bright, white and chemically clean kitchen it was a nightmare.

"So tomorrow you'll be back at school," Sirius said softly.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. He had mixed feelings about this. He wanted to get back to his friends who were probably sick with worry by now, but he also wanted to spend time with his newfound godfather. "What will you do then?"

"My family owned an island off the coast of Spain," Sirius told him. "It's not on any map and is well protected. I should be alright there."

Harry was about to reply when he heard something. Casting his gaze around the kitchen he saw a shape huddled in one corner. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Sirius followed his gaze. "Kreacher," he said disdainfully.

The shape moved slightly. "Master?" it said in a high pitched voice. The shape came closer until Harry was able to identify it as a rather unwashed house-elf clad only in a smelly old tea towel.

Sirius looked at it with revulsion. "Haven't you died yet?"

Harry gaped at this uncharacteristic remark.

"No, Master," the elf said slowly. "Kreacher lives and Kreacher cleans the House of Black." His voice dropped to almost a whisper and Harry realised that was the sound that had alerted him to Kreacher's presence. "Mistress said her no good son was locked away in Azkaban. What is he doing here?"

"Wonderful," Sirius said sarcastically. "Ten years alone turned the blasted thing insane. Go to the attic, Kreacher and stay there until morning."

"Yes, Master," Kreacher said with a low bow. "Kreacher lives to serve the most noble Black family." As he walked slowly from the room Harry heard him mutter, "Mistress always hated Master Sirius, oh yes she did."

Harry glanced up at Sirius who seemed torn between amusement and anger at the elf. "Sirius?"

"Sorry about that, Harry," Sirius said with a wry grin. "Kreacher was never the most intelligent elf in the world and he's been stuck here alone since my mother died ten years ago. It looks like he's gone round the bend."

"Oh."

"I hated that elf growing up," Sirius said, his eyes on the door Kreacher had recently exited. "Always used to go running to mummy dearest the moment I tried to have any fun. Of course the only fun I could get around here was pranking my dear brother Regulus and as Kreacher worshipped the ground he walked on..." Sirius let his voice trail off.

"You didn't get on with your family then?" Harry asked quietly.

"No," Sirius said without the faintest trace of sadness. "I ran away the first chance I got, went to stay with your grandparents. I hoped I'd never have to come back here. Then Dad died and Regulus got himself killed just before I got myself locked up. Mumsy pined away here with only Kreacher for company until she died. I'm the last Black who still has the name. I've got a few cousins, most of whom I'd rather not acknowledge. Andromeda was the only decent one – disowned for marrying a muggle-born. You met her daughter on the Channel Train. Nymphadora Tonks."

This little speech caught at Harry's heart a little. Once he was safely back at Hogwarts Sirius would be all alone, he had no family he cared to approach save the one whose daughter was an Auror whose job it was to bring Sirius in.

"What is it?" Sirius' voice broke into Harry's sombre thoughts.

"I was just thinking," Harry said slowly. Actually he'd been thinking about this for most of the last two days. "Are you sure you really want to do this? Drop me off and then disappear to some remote island where you'll have no one to talk to?"

"We've talked about this," Sirius said abruptly. "There's nothing else to be done."

"I could come with you," Harry said tentatively, already knowing the answer.

"No way," Sirius said at once. "I don't want that kind of life for you. You need to be at Hogwarts so you can be a normal kid and hang around kids your own age. A life on the run is going to be hard and probably uncomfortable, think what this last week's been like for you. Could you live your whole life like that?"

"If I had to," Harry wasn't just saying that. As far from fun as it had been it wasn't all that much worse than living at the Dursleys, infinitely better in some ways, at least he was never going to be locked in a cupboard for days on end. The cursings and beatings he had received at Wormtail's hand would never happen while he was with Sirius.

"Well you don't. Lily and James would turn over in their graves if I even thought about it." Sirius stood and started to pace, kicking up small clouds of dust here and there.

"Then why can't we at least _try_ to get them to clear your name," Harry pleaded. "I've been carrying Wormtail for the last two days. Why have I been doing that if you're just going to kill him later?"

"Harry, they won't _listen_ to me."

"Maybe not," Harry said and Sirius stopped his pacing thinking he'd won. "But I'm the Boy-Who-Lived remember? That's _got_ to be good for something."

Sirius stared at him for a long moment before dropping into a chair and gesturing for Harry to do the same. "What did you have in mind?"

Harry grinned, glad that he would finally have the chance to explain the idea he'd had while sitting on the ferry earlier. "OK, so we need a way to get Fudge to the school, an opportunity to tell him and Dumbledore everything and show them Wormtail and enough witnesses so that they can't just pretend it never happened or bribe people to keep it quiet."

"Right," Sirius agreed. "How do you plan to do all that?"

Harry's grin widened as he told his godfather his plan.

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"Anything?" Hermione asked Ron as soon as he sat down.

"Nope," Ron said in exasperation. "He's just been sitting in his office; he's on his way down here now."

Hermione sighed. Professor Lupin had returned the day before and she and Ron had been keeping an eye on him using the Marauder's Map. So far he hadn't done anything the least bit suspicious and she was starting to wonder if maybe he was just laid up because of his 'illness.'

"Right now he's the only lead we've got," Hermione said at last. "We'll keep trying for a little longer. I'm going to the library after dinner to see what I can find about his past, I think Harry said something about him being friends with his dad, which means he was friends with Black too. It might not prove anything, but it's certainly suspect."

Ron nodded, but didn't answer as he was already piling food into his mouth as if it were the last meal he'd get for a month.

"I'm glad to see your appetite's come back," Hermione said.

"Stalkin' shummon's har' wor,'" Ron said through his mashed potatoes.

"Oh look, your table manners have come back too," Hermione said in exasperation.

Ron swallowed and pointed over her shoulder with his fork. Hermione swivelled in her seat to see Lupin walk in and take his seat at the head table.

When she turned back to Ron she noticed he'd put his cutlery down and was now eyeing his food with something approaching nausea. "Are you alright?"

Ron looked up at her with horrified eyes. "It's just... I was thinking about what you said, about my appetite coming back and it made me think, 'should I be eating like this with Harry still missing?' He's been gone for a week now and who knows if Black is even feeding him."

"Oh Ron," Hermione said, reaching across the table and taking his hand. "Harry wouldn't expect us to stop eating and sleeping because he's gone. It's alright to be worried, but please don't start starving yourself over it."

Ron gazed at her for a long time before picking up his fork and starting to eat again, more slowly this time.

"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE, STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS, MY NAME IS SIRIUS BLACK." The voice – a man's – swept through the room causing students to drop cutlery and food alike and many small shrieks could be heard.

Hermione, in the habit of watching her Professor by now, looked at Lupin whose face had gone pale and his mouth hung open in shock.

Professor Dumbledore stood, motioning for silence and looked to the entrance hall. "It was risky coming back here Sirius," he said as if holding a conversation with an old friend. "I can have Aurors here in minutes."

"I COULD KILL HARRY POTTER BEFORE THEY GOT ANYWHERE NEAR ME."

Hermione gasped. Harry was still alive.

"Is he well?" Dumbledore called.

"FOR NOW," the spectral voice intoned.

Hermione looked to Ron who was staring at the open doors of the Great Hall in disbelief. Harry wasn't out of danger yet.

"What do you want Sirius?" Dumbledore asked wearily.

"GET FUDGE HERE. AND DIRECTOR BONES. THEY CAN BRING ONE AUROR AS LONG AS IT'S NYMPHADORA TONKS."

"Are you turning yourself in?" Dumbledore asked. If he was surprised at these requests he didn't show it.

"HARDLY. GET THEM HERE WITHIN THE HOUR AND IN THE MEANTIME NO ONE IS TO LEAVE THE HALL."

"Let the students go, Sirius, I beg of you."

"NO! THE STUDENTS MUST REMAIN. IF THEY DO NOT..." The voice did not finish the threat, but then it didn't have to, everyone knew what would happen if these demands were not met.

"I want to speak to Harry," Dumbledore said with a calm Hermione knew she couldn't have shown under the circumstances. Even now her heart was racing and she could feel her hands shaking where she had clasped them under the table, whether from fear or anger she wasn't sure. How dare this man threaten Harry?

"PROFESSOR? IT'S ME HARRY." The voice changed to that of a young boy, easily recognisable to all present as Harry Potter.

"Harry, are you well?"

There was a brief pause, but the voice that answered was not Harry's. "ONE HOUR, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, YOU HAVE ONE HOUR."

"Sirius, wait," Dumbledore called. "Tell me, is Harry unharmed?"

Hermione waited with baited breath, but there was no answer.

Without thinking she pulled a lock of hair between her teeth and started to nibble on the end. It was a bad habit her parents thought they'd broken her out of, but sometimes in tense situations she reverted to form.

"Do you think he's OK?" Ron asked nervously.

"I'm sure he is," Hermione replied with a confidence she did not feel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sirius and Harry had spent the day creeping around the London house. Sirius had explained the need to be quiet when they passed a huge portrait in the hall that was of Sirius' mother. They'd been fortunate in that she had stayed asleep until Sirius had been able to cover her with a conjured curtain. Apparently Mrs Black was rather vocal and was likely to scream at her disowned elder son.

Despite the quietness of the day Harry had enjoyed himself. Sirius had agreed to the plan and seemed to have lost much of the weight he carried from Azkaban. His humour was much lighter as he told Harry some of the history of the Black family, mostly of the less evil members. He also told Harry about the time he'd charmed the shoes of his brother Regulus so that the soles split like a mouth that kept shouting insults at him.

Sirius had made one condition on the plan: that they wait until the evening meal so that all the students would be present. Harry chafed at the delay, just wanting it to be over with, but Sirius was insistent.

They waited all day until Sirius announced that it was time and as a dog led Harry outside and through several alleys and side streets before nodding his furry head.

Harry stuck out his wand and waited, nervously adjusting the cap he wore to cover his hair and scar. Sirius had used a few spells to temporarily change his eye colour and the few wisps of hair that stuck out from under the cap were blonde, but Harry was still worried he'd be recognised.

Fortunately their conductor – Stan Shunpike – wasn't terribly bright and was deathly afraid of dogs so he gave them a wide berth once they were seated.

They got off at Hogsmeade and walked up to the castle. By now Harry's heart was hammering in his chest and he could feel the nervous butterflies fluttering in his stomach. So many things could go wrong and if they did Harry might never see Sirius again.

They'd snuck into the school and hidden themselves in one of the rooms behind the Great Hall. From here they could still hear everything going on in the Hall, but they couldn't see anything.

"Right. I'm going to use a variation of the Sonorus spell," Sirius told Harry. "Instead of casting the spell on your throat so that everything you say is loud, the charm is on the wand so you speak into the wand tip to amplify your voice."

"Like a muggle microphone," Harry said, to show he understood.

Sirius just looked at him strangely. "If you say so. This spell also allows us to project the sound so to us it will sound normal, but it will echo all around the Hall so they can't pinpoint our exact location. Don't say anything we don't want them to hear unless my hand is over the end until I've finished the spell."

Harry nodded and Sirius pointed the wand at the Great Hall. "Declamo emineo."

Harry held his breath as Sirius held the wand at a point two inches from his lips and spoke. "Professor Dumbledore, students of Hogwarts, My name is Sirius Black."

In the Hall those words echoed around a few seconds after Sirius spoke them. A wave of gasps, screams and muttering broke out before utter silence reined. Harry rolled his eyes at Sirius' utterly pathetic opening. Sirius shrugged, covering the wand for a second. "I'd like to see you come up with something better."

"It was risky coming back here Sirius," a voice Harry instantly recognised as Professor Dumbledore's called out. "I can have Aurors here in minutes."

Sirius uncovered the wand. "I could kill Harry Potter before they got anywhere near me."

Harry gave him a reproachful look.

"What?" Sirius asked innocently, his hand over the wand. "I said 'could' not 'would.'"

"Is he well?" Dumbledore called.

Sirius grinned wickedly. "For now," he said into the wand using his creepiest voice.

"What do you want Sirius?" Dumbledore sounded tired.

"Get Fudge here. And Director Bones," Sirius said. His eyes narrowed as though a thought had just occurred to him. "They can bring one Auror as long as it's Nymphadora Tonks."

Harry raised his eyebrows at that. It wasn't part of the plan.

Sirius covered the wand again. "She can verify that it was Wormtail with you on the train and not me."

Harry nodded as Dumbledore asked, "Are you turning yourself in?"

"Hardly. Get them here within the hour and in the meantime no one is to leave the Hall." They needed the students as witnesses that weren't under the control of the Ministry.

"Let the students go, Sirius, I beg of you."

"No!" Sirius said quickly. "The students must remain. If they do not..." Sirius trailed off not wanting to make any actual threats that could be held against him later.

"I want to speak to Harry,"

"Keep it short," Sirius said, before holding the wand at Harry's chin.

"Professor?" Harry said, not knowing what to say. "It's me Harry."

"Harry, are you well?"

Sirius took the wand away even as Harry opened his mouth to say he was fine.

"One hour, Albus Dumbledore, you have one hour." Sirius cancelled the spell and slumped back against the wall. "We can talk," he said quietly. "Just don't make too much noise. I wouldn't put it past the old man to send McGonagall in her cat form to find us."

"Sirius, wait. Tell me, is Harry unharmed?" Harry tensed at the voice, but forced himself not to react. He could hear voices coming from the Great Hall as everyone realised the conversation was over and started to talk about this latest development.

Harry sat back, forcing himself to relax. "Do you think it will work?"

"We can only hope," Sirius said, closing his eyes briefly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I wish we had the Map," Sirius whined for the third time in the last ten minutes. "We'd be able to see if they were here yet."

Harry was about to reply when he heard a commotion in the Great Hall. It sounded as though Fudge was arriving.

"Well, Dumbledore. I'm here. With only Auror Tonks as requested despite the fact that it is totally demeaning for a man of my station to travel with only a trainee Auror. Now where is the boy?"

"Cornelius," Dumbledore's voice rang out. "I can assure you that were Mr Black to come out only to find you have lied about your escort he will kill Harry."

While they heard some amusing spluttering noises that could only be made by Minister Fudge Madame Bones spoke up. "I told him as much, Albus. It seems he places more value on his own life than he does on Mr Potter's." There was a brief pause. "Minister, how do you think the public would react if they were to find out you were responsible for the death of the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"What do you expect me to do?" Fudge demanded waspishly.

"Send them away," Madame Bones suggested. "Only to outside the Hall. They can listen in and intervene if they find it necessary."

This time there was a much longer pause as the Minister for Magic pondered. "Very well. Give the order."

Sirius glanced at Harry. "This could actually work in our favour. As long as they think you're in danger they'll stay out of it and we could always use more adult witnesses."

Harry nodded. "Do we go in now, or give them the full hour?"

Sirius thought about it. "Now. We don't want to give them too much time to prepare for us."

Harry stayed close behind Sirius as they made their way to the door behind the head table. Sirius glanced at Harry and clenched the wand in his hand. "You ready?"

Harry stepped in front of Sirius and felt one arm wrap around his chest and the point of his wand dig into his neck.

"Try to look scared," Sirius suggested.

Harry forced an expression on his face that he hoped looked like fear. He had never been much of an actor, but Sirius' life depended on his ability to make these people think he was terrified of the man behind him.

They walked into the door in a peculiar marching walk that allowed Sirius to keep a good hold on him and keep Harry's body between him and everybody else. They would stay in the doorway until they had Dumbledore and Fudge's assurances so that there wouldn't be too many angles of attack. Harry just prayed that the Aurors waiting in the entrance Hall wouldn't try to sneak up behind them.

They were noticed almost immediately. Harry hard one or two people call out his name and tried not to look happy to see Ron and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Minister Fudge, Madame Bones and Auror Tonks stood at the end of the Hufflepuff table. The students and teachers were still seated as though this were a normal dinner, although the teachers had to swivel in their seats in able to see the two newcomers. Harry noted that all the house banners had been taken down and replaced with plain black ones. He wondered why that was, but didn't have time to dwell on it as his attention was captured by Tonks raising her wand to point it at her cousin.

"Put down your wands," Sirius demanded harshly, sounding much more like the mass murderer he was purported to be than the fun loving man Harry had gotten to know over the last few days. Despite himself, despite knowing that Sirius would never hurt him, Harry felt a frisson of genuine fear. He hoped it showed on his face.

"PUT THEM DOWN," Sirius yelled, making Harry flinch from the loud noise.

A clatter filled the room as teachers, students and two Ministry workers dropped their wands.

"Now, see here," Fudge started.

"Drop it," Sirius growled dangerously and Harry could feel the wand point dig in deeper. He gulped audibly, hoping that Fudge would just do as he was told.

Clearly unhappy with the situation, Fudge complied.

"Thank you." Sirius pointed his wand at the centre of the room and called, "Abicio wands." He made a sweeping motion and pointed the wand at the corner of the room behind them.

All the wands from the floor lifted up into the air before hurtling over to that corner where they landed in a heap. Harry winced. Hopefully they'd be able to sort out which wand belonged to which wizard when this was over. They might have to get Ollivander in, he'd be able to sort it out, as long as none were broken.

Sirius lowered his wand slightly, but did not let go of Harry in case the Aurors decided to come barging in the moment he did. "I know you all think I should be locked away for the rest of my life, or maybe even get the Kiss for what I've done. I ask that you wait until you've heard me out before you pass that kind of judgement. There are things you don't know." Harry would have bet money Sirius was looking at his old friend, Professor Remus Lupin, as he said that.

Fudge was scowling. "You called us here so you can _talk_?" he asked incredulously. "I am a very busy man, Mr Black."

"I'm sure you've got some very important arse-kissing to do, what with the election coming up," Sirius said sarcastically. "Frankly, I don't care."

"Sirius," Dumbledore interrupted smoothly. "Why don't you let Harry go?"

Harry's whole body was turned slightly to the right. "I just want your word that you'll listen to me," Sirius told the old man. "Give me that and I'll let him go."

"You have it," Dumbledore agreed without hesitation.

"Fudge," Sirius prompted.

"I – oh fine."

"Madame Bones, I want you to tell your Aurors out in the hall to stand down," Sirius said. "They can come in here as long as they hand over their wands."

If Madame Bones was surprised that he knew about them she didn't show it as she walked out the door to confer with the other Aurors.

"Little Dora," Sirius said conversationally. "It's good to see you."

"Cousin Sirius." Auror Tonks didn't seem to know what to think.

Madame Bones came back a moment later followed by six men and carrying their wands in one hand. She placed them on the floor at her feet.

Sirius let go of Harry, who took a step to one side, but made no attempt to go towards his friends. He needed to be here in case Fudge went against his word.

"Harry, come here," McGonagall called softly, holding out one hand.

"No," Harry said firmly. He waited until the shocked gasps had died out. "Please, just listen to Sirius. He's completely innocent."

"What?" Fudge spluttered. "The boy must be under a confundus curse. He's quite delusional. Need I remind you boy that that man murdered thirteen people and was an accessory to the murders of James and Lily Potter, your parents. You think he's _innocent?_ He _kidnapped _you"

"No he didn't," Harry said as calmly as he could. "He didn't do any of those things. He saved my life."

"Harry was taken by the same person who betrayed Lily and James and killed twelve muggles in the middle of a busy street," Sirius said. Harry knew he was milking this for all it was worth. If they could shock everyone into listening this would go much easier. "I didn't do any of those things. Peter Pettigrew did."

Those words achieved the required effect. Most of the students who didn't know who Peter Pettigrew was were whispering to each other, all the adults present were staring at Sirius in shock.

"Peter's dead," said Lupin at last.

"Harry," Sirius prompted.

"Will you be alright?" Harry asked. He didn't want to leave in case Fudge decided to attack Sirius while he was too far away to help.

Sirius nodded. "They gave their word."

Harry ran through the door behind him and quickly went to where they'd left the cage. It had been too bulky to carry into the Great Hall with them so they'd decided to leave it here until they were safe.

As he re-entered the Great Hall Harry could feel the tension in the air.

"Is that..." Lupin seemed at a loss for words and Harry remembered that he was the only one who knew about Wormtail being an animagus.

"This is your proof?" Fudge asked scornfully. "A rat?"

"Peter was a rat animagus," Lupin said hesitantly. "Sirius?"

"It wasn't me, Remus," Sirius said and pointed the wand at the cage. "James and I, we switched secret keepers. After he betrayed them I tracked him down and he blew up the street, cut off his own finger and disappeared. The rat actually outsmarted me."

"That's Scabbers!" a voice yelled from the crowd.

"Ron," Harry exclaimed, glad to see his best friend.

"Peter hid as the Weasley family pet for twelve years until he realised I'd escaped prison and was after him," Sirius explained, half to Fudge and Dumbledore and half to Ron. "He was desperate. That's why he took Harry."

"Prove it," Fudge said. He sounded a trifle put out.

"If this is truly Peter Pettigrew, make him transform," Madame Bones suggested.

"Gladly." Sirius pointed the wand at the cage. "Finite Incantatem," he said, cancelling the ward spells on it stopping Wormtail from changing. "Transformo."

Peter Pettigrew exploded out of the cage as a human, one foot still in the tray and the wire mesh draped over his head.

"That's him," Tonks said suddenly. "That's the man I saw with Harry on the train."

"Are you sure?" Madame Bones said brusquely.

"Positive," Tonks replied.

"That's Peter Pettigrew," Lupin said, his voice almost a growl.

"Remus, old friend," Wormtail said smarmily. "He's lying. I've been hiding all these years for fear of him."

"He was in Azkaban," Lupin snarled. "Why would you hide from him, no one's ever escaped from there before. More likely you were hiding from your little Death Eater friends. I doubt they were too happy with you, you gave Voldemort the information that led to his defeat."

Harry's heart soared even as the general population of the school shuddered at the forbidden name. Lupin believed them.

"That raises an interesting point," Madame Bones said, ignoring the quivering form of Wormtail. "How did you escape from Azkaban Mr Black."

"Ah, Amelia," Fudge said before Sirius could answer. "Do you really think this is a good place to discuss that? I doubt we'd want the information getting out."

A look of relief passed over Sirius' face. He wouldn't be forced to reveal that he too was an animagus in front of the entire school.

"Let us adjourn to my office," Dumbledore said. "Severus, if you would bring some veritaserum, I believe we have an interrogation to conduct."

Snape nodded curtly and left through a side door that led to the dungeons.

"If it helps," Sirius said a slightly sick look on his face. "I'll take it, too."

"Indeed, Mr Black, that would be most co-operative of you," Madame Bones nodded approvingly.

Harry knew how much it cost Sirius to give that concession. Not only would his animagus abilities come out, but the potion he'd be taking would be one of Snape's and Sirius despised the man.

"I'm coming too," Harry said quickly. There was no way he was going to be left out of this.

"I think that would be prudent, Mr Potter," Madame Bones agreed. "I expect we will need your testimony of the past week."

"Uh," Fudge mumbled something under his breath.

"Speak up, Cornelius," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"What about our wands?" Fudge said with a look of longing at the heap of wands still sitting in one corner.

Madame Bones waved one hand at an Auror who approached. They held a whispered conversation before the Auror hurried off.

"Mr Octivius Ollivander will be here shortly to separate your wands," Madame Bones assured the crowd. "Until then no one is to approach that pile."

She quickly assigned two Aurors to guard the wands. "Well then, let us proceed."

"Maybe we should wait," Fudge said with a nervous glance at Sirius.

"No worries," Sirius said brightly and handed Harry's wand to his godson. "See, I'm unarmed, too. Harry, you have my permission to stun me if I get out of hand. Remus, you take the rat would you?"

"With pleasure," Lupin said, grabbing Wormtail by the scruff of his neck.

Harry followed the strange procession out of the Great Hall, waving at a shell-shocked Ron and Hermione as he passed.

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A/N: Only one more chapter to go! I can't promise that the next one will be as quick as this one was, but I'll try.

No, there won't be a sequel. I feel that if I did one it would just end up being a rehashing of GoF and I'm not prepared to do that. This whole story came about because it really bugs me that Wormtail was sleeping in the same room as Harry for almost three years and never did anything and I asked myself what would happen if he did. I've written a story that answers my question and so I'm happy at that.

I made up some new spells for this using one of the Latin/English translators online. Please don't correct my Latin as I don't speak a word of it. Blame the translator if it's wrong.

Thanks for the reviews!

Don't forget to let me know what you think either by reviewing or alternately you can join my Yahoo! group by clicking the link on my profile.

Nats.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

It was hours later that Sirius and Harry re-entered the Great Hall. It seemed that most of the younger years had gone to bed while the older students sat around talking in hushed tones. They looked up as the two walked in, studying them and the two Auror guards that followed them.

In the far corner, that was still piled with wands, stood another two Aurors, glaring out at the students. Between them Mr Ollivander sat examining a wand. He closed his eyes for a moment before waving it in the air. A slip of paper shot out of the end and Ollivander wrapped it around the handle. "Daphne Greengrass," he called out.

A small blonde girl Harry recognised from Potions classes leapt to her feet and almost ran to retrieve her wand. She skipped back to the other two girls she had been waiting with and they all picked up their things and left. Apparently the other two Slytherins had already gotten theirs.

Harry looked up just in time for a small missile in the shape of Hermione Granger to hit him hard in the chest. He winced as he felt his ribs give slightly, but reached out to hold her. He glanced over her head to see Ron watching them, a silly grin on his face. They were probably the only three students below fourth year left in the Hall.

Hermione stepped back and studied him. Harry knew he looked a fright, even after three days away from Peter's torture, with bruises just beginning to fade from his arms, neck and jaw and a fair few scrapes showing around his t-shirt.

"You should sit down," Hermione said in a tone reminiscent of Madame Pomfrey. "You look ready to collapse."

Harry did feel pretty exhausted after the emotional rollercoaster of the last few hours, but wasn't prepared to admit it. "I'm fine."

"Maybe you shouldn't have jumped on him," Ron suggested lightly, despite the concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine," Harry said again as Hermione led him to a seat at the Gryffindor table and pushed him down. She sat close on one side while Ron sat opposite, both were staring at him as though he'd break.

Harry glanced up to see Sirius watching them with an amused expression. He sat on the other side of Harry and grinned at Ron and Hermione who seemed to have forgotten he was there with all their concern about Harry.

"Sirius, these are my best friends," Harry said redundantly. He'd told Sirius all about them while they were on their way here. "Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. This is Sirius Black, my godfather." Again, a pointless introduction, everyone knew who Sirius was.

"Hello, Mr Black," Hermione said warily. It looked as though she were still trying to make up her mind about him.

Ron gave Sirius a suspicios look but said nothing.

Sirius nodded to each of them. "Harry's told me a lot about you both," he said warmly. "I'm glad to see he has such good friends."

Hermione seemed to lose a little of her frostiness, but Ron just looked downcast.

"So, it's true," Hermione said carefully. "Everything you said, was true."

"It was," Sirius agreed.

"We got sent away," Harry told his friends. "They wanted to discuss everything before they made a decision. Dunno what there is to discuss though, Wormtail confessed to everything under Veritaserum."

"Wormtail!" Hermione exclaimed. "As in..."

"Yeah," Harry grinned. "And I'd like you to meet Padfoot." He waved one hand at Sirius.

Ron's mouth was hanging open in amazement.

"You already know Moony, of course," Sirius said with a wide grin. "The proffessorial one also known as Remus Lupin."

"And Prongs was my Dad," Harry finished.

"Are you serious?" Ron said in an awed tone.

"Yup, that's my name," Sirius said happily.

Harry just looked at him. "Was that supposed to be funny?" he asked. "Because it wasn't."

Sirius looked offended. "I'll have you know that my jokes are the source of great amusement to many."

Harry looked at him doubtfully.

"Give it up, Harry," Lupin's voice said from behind them. "You'll never get him to give up those jokes. Lord knows James tried for many years without success."

"They're all against me," Sirius said with a sad shake of his head. "You think I'm funny don't you, Hermione?" He gave her a look reminiscent of a kicked puppy.

"I... Well..." Harry didn't think he'd ever seen Hermione at a loss for words before. It was an interesting sight.

Lupin laughed. "You're wanted back in the Headmaster's office, Sirius."

Sirius stood up immediately. Harry was about to get up, but a hand on his shoulder kept him down. "Stay here, Harry. Talk to your friends, they've been worried about you. I'll come back down as soon as I can, OK?"

Harry nodded disappointedly. He'd wanted to be there when they declared Sirius innocent, but knew his godfather was right. He needed to talk to Ron and Hermione with no one alse around. He wanted to tell them about his week.

"It'll be alright, kiddo," Sirius assured him. "I'll have a word with McGonagall before I go. Get her to send some food and the nurse over."

"Good luck," Harry said.

Sirius smiled. "Don't need luck," he said. "But I'll take it anyway. I'll see you real soon."

Harry watched Sirius and Lupin walk confidently from the room. He wished he had so much faith in the decision they'd made upstairs.

He turned back to Ron and Hermione to find them watching him avidly. "Well," Hermione prodded. "Tell us everything."

Harry started by recounting that night exactly one week ago when Wormtail had taken him from his dormitory. He stopped when he noted a discomfited expression on Ron's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked his friend.

Ron squirmed in his seat. "I let him take you."

"Let him?" Harry asked, bewidered. "Did you know he was there?"

"No," Ron said. "But I should have. You would have saved me."

"I couldn't even save myself," Harry pointed out.

Ron frowned. "It's all my fault anyway. He was my rat and I brought him into the dorm."

Harry sighed. "How were you supposed to know? No one knew. I don't blame you at all."

"You don't?" Ron said hopefully.

"You're as bad as Sirius," Harry told him. "Both of you are blaming yourelves for something that isn't your fault. He blames himself for my parents death when it was Wormtail that betrayed them, not him."

"Where did Wormtail take you?" Hermione said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Harry continued his story, casting frequent glances at Ron to make sure he wasn't still looking guilty. He'd have to watch Ron for a few days and if it looked serious the two of them would sit down and have a long talk.

As always Ron and Hermione were a great audience, they listened attentively, except for the time when Hermione heard her name called by Ollivander and jumped up to retrieve her wand. They were both outraged at what Wormtail had done to Harry and cheered when Harry got to the part about Sirius rescuing him.

As he talked food began to appear in front of him. He ate hungrily. Wormtail hadn't really bothered to feed him much, which made Harry grateful for the Dursleys' habit of starving him for days on end for the first time in his life. Even after Sirius saved him they were limited to what scraps Sirius could steal as a dog as too many people were looking for them to risk going into a shop.

As he finished eating Madame Pomfrey came over and started fussing over him. Harry cringed, wondering what everyone would think of the school nurse babying him, but he endured it. Finally she gave him a few potions to drink that would help his bones heal properly and a salve to rub into his bruises. She tried to convince him to come to the Hospital Wing to "sleep off his ordeal under a nice sleeping draught," but Harry refused.

"Now, come along," she said, as if he were being difficult just to annoy her. "You'll be better off where it's quiet and peaceful."

"No," Harry said, shaking off the hand she had put on his arm to help him stand. "I want to wait for Sirius."

Madame Pomfrey shot McGonagall a helpless look. McGonagall's answering look must have convinced the nurse that she should just leave Harry be for now for she spun on her heel and left the three Gryffindors in peace.

"What's taking so long?" Harry grumbled, ignoring the fact that he must have asked that at least five times in the last thirty minutes.

"These things take time," Hermione said knowingly. "There'll probably be all kinds of paperwork that needs signing for one thing.

Harry's stomach was tying itself up in knots. They had to clear Sirius, they just had to. If they didn't Harry would... he'd go to the _Daily Prophet_ and tell them everything. Surely they'd be thrilled to print anything the Boy-Who-Lived said if it made them look good. Or he could ask Lupin to help him free Sirius and the three of them could go on the run together.

Harry was so busy going through different scenarios of what he could do if Fudge refused to see reason that he was quite startled when a hand was laid upon his shoulder. He spun around in his seat so quickly he almost slipped off of it and stared into the grinning face of his godfather.

"Did they do it?" Harry demanded breathlessly.

"Yep," Sirius said and Harry didn't think he'd yet seen the man so happy. "I'm free and Peter's going to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban."

"YES!" Harry cried and threw himself into Sirius' arms as Ron and Hermione looked on. Harry didn't see the bemused smile that passed between his two best friends who were clearly very happy for them both.

"I thought you'd have been sent off to bed by now," Sirius said into his hair.

"Madame Pomfrey tried," Harry told him, pulling away, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the few students left in the Hall. "I told her I wouldn't until I'd seen you."

"If I'd known _that_ I would have come back sooner," Sirius said. "I don't want her after me for keeping you up. She was the nurse when I was here and she fixed me up after more than a few Quidditch injuries. She is _not_ someone you want to cross." He grinned suddenly. "Unless you've already got your escape route planned."

"Harry was worried Fudge would try to put you back in Azkaban," Ron said.

"I think he wanted to, but he really couldn't," Sirius told them. "Too many people saw Peter and heard my explanation. Besides, Amelia Bones is a fair woman, she would never have let him get away with it."

"Then why were you so long?" Harry demanded. "I was going crazy down here."

"Paperwork," Sirius said with a shudder. "Awful stuff."

Hermione gave Harry a pointed look.

"There was one other thing as well," Sirius said, with the air of one preparing to drop a bombshell. "You see, Fudge didn't want me to make a big deal about the fact that I was imprisoned without a trial, he's worried it'll make the Ministry look bad if it got out they went against the law, so he made me a few offers to get me to stay quiet. He'll make the announcement to the Prophet that I'm innocent, of course, but the details are to remain confidential."

"They should give you something for being unfairly imprisoned anyway," Hermione said righteously.

"Are they going to give you money?" Ron asked eagerly.

Sirius laughed. "As Hermione said I'll be getting a legal payoff anyway," he said to Ron. "Besides which, I'll also be able to access my family vaults without resorting to mail ordering and the Blacks have always been a wealthy family."

"Well, what then?" Ron asked with a frown. Coming from a family like the Weasleys who had never been well off it was difficult for Ron to understand what else could be used as a bribe.

"It turned out that there was very little that Minister Fudge had that I wanted," Sirius said, reaching into his tattered robe with one hand and removing a scroll. "However, there was one thing he was able to arrange for me in exchange for my silence."

Hermione was eyeing the scroll speculatively while Ron merely looked on agape.

Sirius handed Harry the scroll. "Read it," he prompted.

Harry unrolled it slowly so that Hermione, who was peering over his shoulder, wouldn't be able to read it. He had to squint to read the tiny script without his glasses. He gasped at what he read there and almost dropped the parchment. His gaze shifted to Sirius who was starting to look a little uncomfortable.

"It still needs one more signature before it becomes fully legal," he said gently. "It's your decision, I wouldn't want to make you do anything you don't want to."

Harry couldn't believe it. He'd been worried Sirius would want to go back to his normal life when he was declared innocent and wouldn't want Harry living with him, this went far beyond that and Sirius was sitting there, letting _him_ make the final decision and staring at him with a worried expression as if there were any possibility of Harry saying no.

"This is... are you really serious about this?" Harry asked incredulously. "And if you make a joke about your name right now I'll never forgive you."

"Harry, I've never been more serious," Sirius said with a perfectly straight face.

Harry groaned. "That's going to get really old."

Sirius flashed him a grin. "I'd understand if you don't want to..." he began.

"I want to," Harry told him vehemently. "Definitely. Even if it means putting up with your bad jokes."

"Could one of you just tell us what's on the scroll?" Ron said impatiently.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione said. "Sirius is going to adopt Harry."

Harry sniggered at Ron's expression. "Got a quill, Hermione?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the first time in his life, Harry was happy to be going home.

He jumped off the train, dragging his trunk behind him and with Hedwig's cage clutched in one hand. He followed Ron over to where Mrs Weasley was waiting and allowed her to hug him tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright," she murmured into his ear before letting him go.

Someone took Harry's trunk out of his unresisting hand and placed it on a trolley.

"Sirius," Harry said happily and gave his godfather a hug

"Good to see you, kiddo," Sirius said warmly. He was much changed since Harry had last seen him about two months ago. He'd gained weight and his skin had lost its pallor making him look much healthier.

"Hey, Harry, we're leaving," Ron called. "Are you coming to stay this summer?"

"There's an open floo connection between the Burrow and Grimmauld Place," Mrs Weasley told Ron. "You'll be able to see each other as much as you want."

"Excellent," Ron said. "You can come over and play Quidditch tomorrow."

"Ron," Mrs Weasley admonished. "Let Harry spend some time with his new father."

"We're sticking with godfather, actually," Sirius told her. "James was Harry's father and I don't want to take his place."

Mrs Weasley nodded. "That seems like a good idea. Now, you two be sure to let me know if you need anything, even if it's just someone to talk to, I'm happy to help."

"That's very kind, Molly," Sirius told her, "But I think we'll be alright. Ron, that floo works both ways, you know. You can come over to see Harry whenever you want."

"Thanks," Ron said with a grin. "I might just do that."

"You'd better," Harry put in. "And Hermione too, when she's at your place." He glanced over to where Hermione wa being greeted by her own parents.

A few moments later Hermione hurried over to say goodbye to them both and then she was gone behind the barrier between the platform and the muggle world. Ron and his family left right after, for the Burrow, leaving Sirius and Harry alone on the platform.

"Time to go then," Sirius said, pushing the trolley towards the barrier.

"So,what's the plan for the summer?" Harry asked him.

"I think we're going to have an adventure," Sirius replied.

Harry followed him with a grin and stepped into a whole new world.

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A/N: First of all, I'm sorry this wasn't as quick as I'd hoped, life took a couple of funny turns this last few weeks. I know it's not very long, but it's more in the nature of an epilogue than an actual chapter.

I'm not sure what happened when I posted chapter 9. My internet connection was being really slow and was slower still for some reason. Somehow I managed to upload the chapter twice, but when I went to delete one of them it told me it had deleted both, so I reposted it, but then there were two again. So that's what happened if you got two alerts for chapter 10 and then found it wasn't there. Sorry about that.

So that's it. The end of the story. I've got a few ideas for fics, not sure which ones I'll actually write. I want to do a proper sixth year story at some point and I'm also considering a Buffy/Sliders Xover. It probably won't be for a while though, unless I find myself with lots of free time.

Hope everyone enjoyed it and thank you to eveyone who reviewed.

Nat.


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